The Solomon Islands is a constitutional multiparty parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately , Parliamentary elections held in April were considered generally free and fair, although there were incidents of vote buying. On December 13, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's coalition government lost a parliamentary vote of no confidence, and on December 20, Parliament elected Derek Sikua as prime minister.
The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands RAMSI , a multinational police-centered force organized by Australia, arrived in the country in at the government's invitation to assist in restoring law and order and rebuilding the country's institutions following a period of violent conflict between the Malaitan and Guadalcanalese ethnic groups from to RAMSI continued its assistance during the year.
The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces; however, relations between RAMSI and the Sogavare government were increasingly strained after the controversial July appointment of Julian Moti, wanted by Australia on child sex offense charges, as attorney general. In December the Sikua government dismissed Moti and deported him to Australia. The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, but there were problems in some areas. Human rights problems included lengthy pretrial detention, government corruption, and violence and discrimination against women and minorities.
There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. During the year a former cabinet minister was released from custody due to lack of evidence related to his alleged participation in rioting in Honiara following the April elections.
Earlier in he had been released on bail after being charged with, among other things, being an accomplice to murder; those charges also were dropped. In the same proceeding, two other defendants were acquitted of the attempted murder of two additional RAMSI police officers, from Tonga and Nauru, respectively.
