28 Nov 2007

Solomon Islands opposition MP grouping insists it has support

8:48 am on 28 November 2007

The Solomon Islands opposition MP grouping insists it has the support of 26 of the 48 occupied seats in parliament.

This is despite recent reports that the Manasseh Sogavare-led government had lured four MPs from the opposition.

This follows a three week long stalemate with both the Government and Opposition claiming a majority of the 48 MPs.

One of the group of cabinet ministers who recently defected to the opposition, Gordon Darcy Lilo has dismissed the reports as government propaganda to destabilise its opponents.

"Those claims are just frivolous because the bodies are still with us; physically, they're still with us, and it's just unbelievable for people to think that people like Steve Abana could ever move, Edward Huni'ehu could ever move, Stanley Sofu would move. They're just trying to create uncertainty, it's only propaganda."

Gordon Darcy Lilo says the opposition is committed to removing Mr Sogavare when parliament sits again.