Prime Minister (PM) Jeremiah Manele says he will not step down as Prime Minister with immediate effect, but will wait until next Tuesday to allow the motion of no confidence to be tabled and debated.
He was responding to the call by Opposition Leader Matthew Wale in Parliament this morning, Tuesday 29th April asking him to step down immediately.
“In that spirit of calmness, it would be expediently if the Prime Minister could consider stepping down immediately and not allow us to go through uncertainty until Tuesday 6th May.
He said by stepping down immediately would allow Parliament to elect a new Prime Minister next week and allow Parliament to deal with important matters.
“But it’s a matter for him to prayerfully consider and we can proceed to the election of a prime minister to deal with matters of parliament,” he said while expressing the Opposition’s support for adjournment of parliament to Tuesday next week.
The Opposition Leader also highlighted that Prime Minister lacks the number of the House.
Prime Minister Manele in response thanked the Leader of Opposition for supporting the motion which will become mature for debate next Tuesday.
He firmly informed Parliament that he is not backing down but will allow the matter to be debated on the floor of Parliament come next Tuesday.
“I will not stand down before that date. I will allow the motion to be moved on Tuesday 6th May and debated. And we’ll see how it goes,” he concluded.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Honiara and former Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo filed the motion of confidence on Monday.
The reason is due to disagreements over the leadership style of the current PM in running the affairs of this country.
On Monday Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mines and Energy Bradley Tovosia stepped down as DPM and Minister.
Government is yet to announce his replacement.
As of Tuesday morning, a new coalition has been formed comprising of some OUR Party members led by Manasseh Sogavare along with the Opposition and Independent Group.
Its understood a good number of OUR Party members are still with the GNUT regime.
