Member of Parliament for East Are Are, Peter Kenilorea Junior, has been appointed as the new Leader of the Independent Group.
Government House Private Secretary Rawcliff Ziza confirmed that Governor General Sir David Vunagi signed the appointment following a recommendation from the Speaker of Parliament on Thursday.
Speaker of Parliament John Patterson Oti made the recommendation after consulting with the heads of political parties and the Political Party Commission to clarify the status and numerical strength of the Independent Group.
The appointment of the Leader of the Independent Group is mandated by Section 66(2) of the Constitution.
Kenilorea Junior received the appointment because his party, the Solomon Islands United Party (UP), won six seats in the recent Joint National Elections on April 17.
Acting Registrar of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, Gilson Galo, earlier reported that three Members of Parliament have resigned from the CARE coalition, which comprises the Solomon Islands Democratic Party (SIDP) and the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP). These members are former Independent Leader, John Dean Kuku, Cathy Launa Nori, and George Tema.
Galo clarified that only CARE has signed a coalition agreement, while the Solomon Islands United Party (UP), the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement (SIPRA), and Umi for Change (U4C) have not signed any coalition agreement.
Consequently, SIUP, SIPRA, and U4C could be considered as an Independent Group, as stipulated in Section 66(2) of the Constitution, due to their lack of a coalition agreement.
SIDP won a total of 11 seats in the election, while DAP, SIPRA, and U4C each secured one seat.
This gave an advantage to the President of SIDP, Mathew Wale, MP for Aoke Langalanga, to be appointed by the Governor General as the Leader of the Opposition.
Kenilorea Junior, the son of former Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea, was born around 1973.
He attended Su’u National Secondary School on Malaita before transferring to Wesley College in Auckland, New Zealand.
After completing his secondary education, Kenilorea Junior pursued a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Waikato, followed by a Master of Laws in international law at the University of Nottingham.
Kenilorea Junior began his legal career with Jennifer Corrin Barrister & Solicitor in 1994.
He started working for the Attorney General of the Solomon Islands in 1996 and left his government position for the United Nations in 2000.
Kenilorea held several roles at the UN before returning to the government of the Solomon Islands in 2017 as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
Solomon Star, Honiara
