BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
JEREMIAH Manele officially took over as Solomon Islands’ 13th Prime Minister today, vowing to publicly unveil the Government for National Unity and Transformation’s first 100-day document policy with more emphasis on an aggressive recovery approach in the country’s struggling state of the economy.
In his first speech as Prime Minister of the 12th Parliament, Manele expressed concern over the Central Bank’s economic report and vowed to take a more focused and aggressive approach.
“The Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) has already begun work on our policy and 100-day program, and we hope to unveil it soon.
“The recovery of the global economy is steady but slow; we as a country continue on the recovery path after the COVID-19 global pandemic and 2021 riots. The recent report by the Central Bank on the state of our economy is concerning and calls for a more focused and aggressive approach.
“It is not an easy task, but we will reach out to all relevant stakeholders as we progress on our road to recovery. Our immediate task now is to appoint a cabinet, and we will do that in the next few days,” the newly elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister said.
The GNUT coalition is finalizing its first 100-day policy framework, focusing on health, education, agriculture, finance, fisheries, and infrastructure, according to yesterday’s press release from officials of the People First Party, Kadere Party, and OUR Party. “We are working to ensure the framework is achievable and realistic for its time frame. The Government for National Unity and Transformation coalition is fully committed to the efficient delivery of its policy priorities in the interest of national unity and transformation, economic empowerment, rural development, peace, and progress.”
Manele also revealed that several legislative proposals will be discussed with Parliament and the cabinet to determine priority policy programs for 2024, including whether to revise the budget.
“There are also several bills that are ready to come before Parliament; these bills include the value tax bill, special economic bill, mineral resources bill, forestry bill, and others. The cabinet will meet to decide on the priority legislative and policy programs for 2024, which includes whether we need to revise the 2024 budget or not.
“Our immediate task now is to appoint Cabinet and we will do that in the coming days. The next business to attend is the Parliament meeting when all Members of Parliament will be taking their oaths before electing the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. I am sure that all Members of Parliament look forward to taking their oath,” he said.
