Daniel Suidani, the former provincial governor, was a strong critic of China and the decision to drop diplomatic support for Taiwan, before he was abruptly ousted in a motion of no confidence in 2023 while he and his supporters were absent from parliament.
In an interview with AFP on Monday, Mr Suidani called China’s growing hold over the Pacific nation “alarming”, accusing the Chinese Communist Party of working behind the scenes to help keep pro-Beijing members in parliament.
China has paid tens of millions of dollars into a discretionary development fund used by the island’s politicians, according to Australian research.
Critics allege this “constituency development fund” is being used to curry favour with key political figures.
China’s foreign ministry denied on Monday that it was interfering in the country’s elections.
Lin Jian, a spokesman for the ministry, said: “China has always pursued the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and supports the people of the Solomon Islands in independently selecting a development path that suits their own national conditions.”
Chinese and Russian state media have in recent days alleged that it is the United States that is trying to influence the Solomons’ elections, claiming Washington was planning an “electoral coup”.
Ann Marie Yastishock, the US ambassador to the Solomons, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, denounced the “over disinformation campaign” as “categorically false” and “baseless accusations”.
“These misleading and false claims from questionable sources and outlets should only be perceived as disinformation and an attempt to harm our longstanding partnership with Solomon Islands and friendship between our people,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
Suspicions remain that China will be backing more than one pro-Beijing candidate for the top job in order to cement its influence.
Mr Kenilorea accused China of “blatant interference” by signing a new cooperation deal in early April between Malaita province and East China’s Jiangsu, with a view to pushing forward with development projects. “The timing is suspicious and questionable,” he said. Malaita has historically been more sceptical towards Beijing’s intentions.
He also claims he has been targeted by Chinese disinformation campaigns that have gone as far as publishing fake brain scans to suggest he was sick.
“I have been targeted with some really strange efforts to brand me as mentally ill. An email has been sent around to a few journalists and friends..it says click here for a report to see the brain scan of Peter Kenilorea that shows that he is ill,” he said.
