BY MIKE TUA
THE Green Party Solomon Islands has launched its first-ever Convention for this year, which they aimed for the 2024 upcoming National General Elections, pledging interested individuals to become members of the Party.
In the two days convention held in Honiara, the Green Party Solomon Islands (GPSI) aims to campaign on delivering a greater change for the future of Solomon Islands and also a detailed action that is needed to address ‘environmental issues’.
The party does not currently hold any seats on the National Parliament but aims to inform Solomon Islanders about the Party policy guidelines and manifestoes that they aim to see implemented at the national level once it fields in its representatives in the coming 2024 National General Elections (NGE).
Speaking to Environment Media Solomon Islands, a voluntary member of the Party, Eddie Pae said: the primary objective of the convention is to scout for interested individuals who want to become members of GPSI and to inform them about policy guidelines that the party wants to see implemented at the national level once it fields in representative comes 2024 NGE.
“The convention itself is so important since this is the eye-opener for those who are interested to become members of GPSI. It is from the convention that people learn about party policies, guidelines, and prospects that it wants to be implemented at the national level for the good of this country.
“So the aim of the convention was also to recruit new members for the party.
“The 2024 elections are so important to Green Party Solomon Islands because we want to at least put in Members of Parliament (MPs) under the party’s flagship.
“The party is serious in the welfare of this country in terms of its resources.
“The way our resources are being harvested and used at the moment is very alarming and that is why we want to put in members at the roundhouse (Parliament) in 2024 so that some of our policies can be implemented at the national level before we suffer the setbacks of losing all our resources into foreign hands.”
The party was initially formed in the Solomon Islands around 2011 but registered under the Charitable Act and it was properly registered as a political party before the 2019 NGE and it has around 360 plus members nationwide.
The GPSI says its current vision is to go out to all the provinces and hold the awareness to all the communities and to recruit as many members as possible so that comes to 2024 NGE – saying they can have winning candidates whereby they can be part of the ruling government and thereby having some of its policies implemented then.
In the previous 2019 NGE, 3 candidates contested under the party’s banner but none of them make it through.
The convention was collaboratively organized by the Interim President of the GPSI, Ernest Kolly with the support of two volunteers, Eddie Pae and Ruddy Oti (who are members of the Party).
68 local participants including key guest speakers, Solomon Islands environmental activist, Lawrence Makili and the Registrar of Political Party’s Commission, Jasper Anisi were also present at the convention.