PINA

At the moment the Queen died, the throne passed immediately and without ceremony to the heir, Charles, the former Prince of Wales. But there are a number of practical - and traditional - steps which he must go through to be crowned King. He will be known as King Charles III. That was the first decision of the new king's reign. He...

The Solomon Islands parliament has voted to delay the country's national elections to 2024, backing a push from Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to postpone the poll until after the Pacific Games next year. The bill to delay the poll for seven months passed parliament with 37 votes in favour to 10 against. Elections in Solomon Islands are meant to be held...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has clarified that the constitutional amendment bill 2022 is not an attack on the nation’s democracy nor does it intrude on the fundamental rights of the people to vote. PM Sogavare made the clarification in parliament when he raised to table the second reading of the constitutional amendment bill 2022 which seeks to suspend...

Fiji's Deputy Supervisor of Elections, Craig Rickards will not be able to continue as Deputy Supervisor for the 2022 General Election. In a statement, Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem said Rickards has to return to Australia for urgent medical attention. Saneem said it is unfortunate that Rickards fell ill while he was here and is currently receiving medical treatment in Australia. He...

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has joined the rugby family in paying tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday. The longest-serving British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth was synonymous with some of the sport’s greatest events, presenting the Webb Ellis Cup to the victorious captains of the men’s teams at Rugby World Cup 1991 in England...

Solomon Islands Parliament will get to decide today when the next national general elections will be held. The government is pushing for a deferment of the elections to 2024, while the opposition is calling on the government to hold the elections as scheduled in mid 2023. The government has been pushing the argument that they cannot host two major events concurrently,...

Fiji' Military chief of staff Colonel Sapenafa Motufaga has been promoted to Brigadier General. “Congratulations to Colonel Motufaga on his promotion to Brigadier General this morning. Brigadier General Motufaga is currently the Chief of Staff of the RFMF,” the Fiji Military said on twitter Prior to his current appointment, Motufaga was the Military Police advisor at Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the...

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court has ruled that none of the provisions of the Organic Law on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) were invalid, ineffective or unconstitutional. Justice David Cannings handed down the five-man Supreme Court decision Wednesday at Waigani based on an application by the Ombudsman Commission (OC) seeking an interpretation on the constitutionality of ICAC. The court...

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is moving towards authoritarianism, its former president says in an interview, after the government suspended all judges from its appeal and high courts. Kiribati withdrew from the regional bloc, the Pacific Island Forum, in July, with China denying it had influenced the decision by the tiny atoll nation amid tensions between Beijing and Washington...

Instead of protecting the human rights of citizens, the 2013 Constitution protects military government decrees imposed before the 2014 General Election. National Federation Party (NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad said this in a statement issued Wednesday. “This Constitution instead protects military government decrees ahead of human rights,” he said. “People are afraid to exercise their rights of expression, association or political rights. “Opposition...