Hand counting the paper votes is simply the beginning of an arduous electoral course of.
As soon as the parliament’s 50 members are lastly elected, they are going to start bartering with one another behind closed doorways to cobble collectively a ruling coalition.
Solely as soon as the mud has settled from this can a chief minister emerge.
Incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare is amongst China’s most distinguished champions within the area, whereas his most important challengers view Beijing’s rising affect with a mixture of scepticism and alarm.
Startling and unproven claims of overseas interference have upped the ante for a vote already billed as one of many nation’s most vital in a era.
State-backed Chinese language information shops have pushed studies that the US may orchestrate riots to dam Sogavare from returning to energy.
US Ambassador Ann Marie Yastischock stated such rumours had been “blatantly deceptive”.
“We strongly refute allegations being made in recognized propaganda shops that declare USAID and the US Authorities has sought to affect the upcoming election in Solomon Islands,” she stated in a press release.
