HONIARA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced on Monday his withdrawal from running for a new term and Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele has been nominated as his coalition's prime minister candidate, national broadcaster SIBC reported on Monday.
The newly founded Coalition for National Unity and Transformation (CNUT), which consists of the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party (or OUR Party), the Peoples First Party and Kandere Party, has 19 new members of parliament following the recent national election.
Sogavare said in a press conference that the coalition has now grown to include a formidable force of 28 members of parliament, which would form a majority in the 50-seat parliament.
But he did not say how the coalition could come up with the majority. If it is true, they could have been joined by independent members of parliament or those from other parties.
The OUR Party, now led by Manele, won most seats in the Pacific island country's parliamentary election with 15 members of parliament.
Members of parliament will meet to elect the country's new prime minister on Thursday, Governor General of Solomon Islands David Vunagi said in a written notice.
On Saturday, the opposition Coalition for Accountability Reform and Empowerment (CARE), which consists of the Solomon Islands Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance Party and the UMI for Change Party, signed a coalition agreement with the Solomon Islands United Party.
These four parties have 20 members of parliament, according to the results of the election held on April 17.
Meanwhile, 10 independent candidates have been elected as members of parliament. The Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement, whose allegiance is not known yet, has one member in the new parliament. ■
