Former Solomon Islands prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the country needs an economic solution to its instability problems, not a security solution.
Earlier this week Honiara and Beijing confirmed the signing of a security treaty despite serious concerns raised locally and internationally about the deal.
Mr. Lilo was supporting calls for the document to be made public in the interest of transparency and accountability.
"The best thing to help our people ... to understand better on government is for government to take responsibility to manage our economy," Mr. Lilo said.
"Create more employment, create more investment, that to me is a better way of securing a better society for our country, than to militarise this country," he said.
Mr. Lilo served as prime minister of Solomon Islands from 2011 to 2014.
Meanwhile, another former prime minister Danny Philip, who is now a backbencher in the Sogavare government, said Solomon Islands was "open to all sorts of things" because "beggars do not have a choice".
He said the Solomons was mindful of the interplay between the superpowers in the Pacific, but the country did not want to be drawn into geopolitical battles.
"Solomon Islanders treated with 'disrespect'
Meanwhile, a senior journalist in Honiara said Solomon Islanders was being treated disrespectfully and kept in the dark over the government's security pact with China.
Speaking at a panel on the contentious treaty, Dorothy Wickham said most of the news coverage on the security arrangement has been focused on Australia and America's positions.
"The government's handling of the way it went about this treaty shows disrespect,” she added.
Source. Radio New Zealand.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
