SYDNEY
\nThe prime minister of the Solomon Islands defied pressure to resign Sunday, saying violent rioting that swept the capital had been orchestrated by a few people with \u201cevil intention\u201d to topple him.
\n\u201cIt is very clear that the recent events were well planned and orchestrated to remove me as the prime minister for unsubstantiated reasons,\u201d Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in an address broadcast to the Pacific island nation.
\n\u201cI want to show the nation that the government is fully intent and nothing will move us. We must and will never bow down to the evil intention of a few people,\u201d Sogavare said.
\nMany residents of the Pacific island nation of 800,000 people believe their government is corrupt and beholden to Beijing and other foreign interests.
\nProtesters have channelled their anger directly at Sogavare and his government, with mobs attempting to torch parliament and the prime minister\u2019s private residence as police fired tear gas and warning shots.
\nSogavare has previously blamed the three days of violence \u2014 during which rioters incinerated swathes of the capital before the unrest died down at the weekend \u2014 on an unscrupulous few leading others astray with false information.
\n\u201cWe must and will never bow down to the evil intention of a few people. We must stand up to intimidation, bullying and violence. We owe this to our children and the majority of our people who cannot defend themselves,\u201d the Solomon Islands leader said.
\nHe said the violence, centered on the capital\u2019s Chinatown, had caused 200 million Solomon Islander dollars ($25 million) in damage and destroyed 1,000 jobs in an economy already squeezed by the impact of the pandemic.
\nSogavare said the government was working on a recovery package to help damaged businesses recover.
\nThe prime minister repeated a promise to hold the unidentified \u201cinstigators\u201d responsible.
\n\u201cRest assured that they will face the full brunt of the law and arrests are already being made as investigations continue, with more arrests to follow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY The prime minister of the Solomon Islands defied pressure to resign Sunday, saying violent rioting that swept the capital had been orchestrated by a few people with \u201cevil intention\u201d to topple him. \u201cIt is very clear that the recent events were well planned and orchestrated to remove me as the prime minister for unsubstantiated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-229929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n