Solomons govt faces vote of no-confidence

Solomon Islands leader Danny Philip. Photo / AAP

The Solomon Islands opposition is set to lodge a vote of no confidence against the Danny Philip-led government that they say is in disarray with a number of defections.

Opposition deputy leader Matthew Wade told the Solomon Star newspaper the no confidence motion will be lodged with the national speaker on Friday.

Mr Wade said Prime Minister Danny Philip must recall parliament before the planned resumption in March.

"A no confidence vote is a right of an MP and cannot be suppressed by the standing orders," he said.

"It is therefore incumbent upon the PM to call parliament to deal conclusively with the motion."

Mr Wade said he was buoyed by reports this week that the government's slim majority will be lost with up to four MPs defecting to the opposition.

But Mr Philip disputed the opposition's claims and told the Star on Thursday that some of those MPs have already returned to the government.

"Those MPs have found out in the last few days that they had been given empty promises.

"We welcome them back and we extend the invitation to others who were forced to leave based on empty promises to return to government."

Earlier this month jailed former Solomons fisheries Minister Jimmy Lusibaea was freed from prison after one month and a day into his two year sentence.

The opposition will legally challenge the controversial North Malaita MP's release as Lusibaea will return to parliament, in a move seen to stabilise the government's numbers.

Lusibaea was sentenced to two years and nine months in November last year after he pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully wounding a person and assaulting a police officer in 2001, while he was a member of the now defunct Malaita Eagle Force.

Mr Philip was elected in August last year with a 26-24 majority government but has suffered numerous hurdles in his short stint as PM.

In December Mr Philip sacked influential forests Minister Bodo Dettke in the same week he lost Lusibaea to jail.

Mr Dettke this week called on the PM to stand down.

Mr Philip's also lost newly elected MP Steve Laore who died after collapsing in a hotel on the night the winning coalition members were celebrating their election win.

The opposition also lost a member when MP Toswell Kaua passed away last year.

The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was deployed in 2003 in response to years of bloody ethnic tensions between Malaita and Guadalcanal people.

- AAP