Solomon Islands Government Profile 2000

Country name

conventional long form:none
conventional short form:Solomon Islands
former:British Solomon Islands

Data code

BP

Government type

parliamentary democracy

Capital

Honiara

Administrative divisions

7 provinces and 1 town*; Central, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Temotu, Western
note:there may be two new provinces of Choiseul (Lauru) and Rennell/Bellona and the administrative unit of Honiara may have been abolished

Independence

7 July 1978 (from UK)

National holiday

Independence Day, 7 July (1978)

Constitution

7 July 1978

Legal system

English common law

Suffrage

21 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state:Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Father John LAPLI (since NA 1999)
head of government:Prime Minister Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU (since 27 August 1997); Deputy Prime Minister Sir Baddeley DEVESI (since 27 August 1997)
cabinet:Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament
elections:none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of Parliament for up to five years; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament

Legislative branch

unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections:last held 6 August 1997 (next to be held by August 2001)
election results:percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GNUR 21, PAP 7, NAPSI 5, SILP 4, UP 4, independents 6, other 3

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal

Political parties and leaders

characterized by fluid coalitions; Christian Fellowship [leader NA]; Group for National Unity and Reconciliation or GNUR [leader NA]; Labor Party or LP [Joses TUHANUKU]; Liberal Party [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; National Action Party of Solomon Islands or NAPSI [leader NA]; National Party [leader NA]; Nationalist Front for Progress or NFP [Andrew NORI]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [leader NA]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [leader NA]; Solomon Islands National Unity, Reconciliation, and Progressive Party or SINURP [Job Duddley TAUSINGA] (leader of opposition); United Party or UP [leader NA]

International organization participation

ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission:Ambassador Stephen Rex HOROI (represents the country as both the permanent representative to the UN and the ambassador to the US)
chancery:800 Second Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017
telephone:[1] (212) 599-6192, 6193
FAX:[1] (212) 661-8925

Diplomatic representation from the US

the US does not have an embassy in Solomon Islands (embassy closed July 1993); the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands

Flag description

divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green