Pro-Beijing former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s withdrawal from the race to make way for Manele as the party’s candidate is a sign the country could be headed in a similar direction, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports. The prime minister was elected in a secret ballot of the 49 members of parliament who won seats in the April 17 general election. Governor-General David Vunagi said Manele received 31 votes, while Matthew Wale, who led the opposition in the previous parliament, received 18. Under Manasseh Sogavare, Chinese influence in the Solomon Islands has grown more than anywhere else in the South Pacific. Sogavare, who in 2019 switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China after 36 years, also struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of a Chinese naval presence in the region. Meg Keen, director of the Pacific Islands program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, said Manele would be “a less volatile and confrontational leader for the West to deal with, but he will continue to have a close relationship with China.” “As a former foreign minister, he helped broker the security agreement with China that has the West spooked. But he’s also a veteran diplomat with experience in the UN and Western countries — he’s no stranger to Western engagement,” Keen told AP. Keen said Sogavare had stepped aside because his party’s loss of several seats in the election showed voters wanted a change. Read Also: Partido próximo de Pequim vence eleições nas Ilhas Salomão sem maioria (Portuguese version)