SOLS: Former PM fears new Prime Minister will sell out
Updated
The former Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says he fears the man who replaced him will undermine the country's laws and sovereignty to please Australia. Mr Sogavare, who is now the Opposition Leader, made the comments as Prime Minister Derek Sikua arrived in Australia from Papua New Guinea on an official trip to restore regional relations. He will also visit New Zealand. Mr Sogavare blames the former Howard government for the sour relations with Canberra. He says there was no reason for Doctor Sikua to apologise to his Papua New Guinea counterpart.
Presenter: Sam Seke
Speakers: Manesseh Sogavare, Solomon Islands Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister
SOGAVARE: Firstly with Papua New Guinea, we have no problem with Papua New Guinea. I think the idea of this apology came about there was this thinking that because I did not attend the Forum meeting in Tonga and so I need to apologise to Michael Somare. The decision not to attend the Forum meeting in Tonga is a sovereign decision by the Cabinet of Solomon Islands. And so it's nothing to do with Papua New Guinea. And so that is why I said we basically have nothing really to apologise to Papua New Guinea. Now with Australia we always maintain as a government that the ball is really in the court of the Australian government to I guess have some courtesy in understanding the Solomon Islands side of the story in all the issues that affects our bilateral relationship. And that is the position that Australia wouldn't want to take, they simply don't want to understand our side of the story. Simply because they see us as a small country and that they are big, they're superior, that what they say must go. Of course that affected our relationship, as leader of the government at that time I would not take that kind of attitude.
SEKE: Coming back to the relations or fence-mending trip now being undertaken by Prime Minister Dr Sikua, don't you think it's best to have dialogue on maybe sticky issues and come to some sort of normal relations and then move forward, rather than taking a sort of confrontation approach which would only in a way worsen things?
SOGAVARE: Well you see Sam the idea of dialogue it actually comes from us. We actually suggested that Solomon Islands and Australia must enter into a serious dialogue face-to-face meeting. I had requested that to the prime minister of Australia and I wanted to meet him, and I later requested nearly three times. He refused bluntly, he didn't want to sit and discuss it with me. He said that we have some serious conditions that you need to follow, to comply with. Now for him to actually tell me, a leader of a sovereign country, that's not the way to deal with sticky issues that affected our relationship. We need to sit and talk. So I have no problem with sitting and discussing, and in fact that's the way to go. What I'm saying here is that we'd better be careful what we actually say in this meeting because Solomon Islands has had the position all along on these issues, and I hope the new Prime Minister of Solomon Islands fully understand these issues. And it's my fear is that he will not stand by some of the positions that Solomon Islands is taking all along, and these are not positions that are unfair or hard to comply with, because they have to do with complying with the laws of Solomon Islands and the principles of international law.
SEKE: So you fear that Dr Sikua's government would in a way surrender the country's sovereignty?
SOGAVARE: Well they've started to do that already in the deportation of the former Attorney General, they've stepped all over the laws of this country. If that is the attitude of Australia and Solomon Islands Prime Minister basically agree with that, then what they will be discussing Australia will be trampling all over the positions that Solomon Islands has taken all along with have to do with compliance with our laws, our own domestic laws and the principles of international laws.
