Solomon Islands elects opposition leader Matthew Wale as PM
Solomon Islands on Friday elected as its new prime minister Matthew Wale, who has been a critic of the South Pacific nation's closeness to China and pledged to bring change.
The Solomons has been seen as one of Beijing's closest Pacific islands partners in recent years, and any change of leaders in the strategically located archipelago is closely watched by Western diplomats.
Wale, who leads the Solomon Islands Democratic Party, won 26 votes to the government candidate's 22 in a secret ballot of lawmakers.
"We are not immune from these geopolitical events," he said, calling for young Solomon Islanders to "be ambitious".
As opposition leader since 2019, when the Solomons switched ties from Taiwan to China, Wale has campaigned for greater government transparency in dealings with foreign mining and logging businesses.
Wale, a former accountant, hails from Malaita, the most populous province whose local government boycotted Chinese companies until 2023.
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