Mamaloni, Solomon Sunaone (1943–2000)

Solomon Islands centre-left politician, chief minister 1974–76 and prime minister 1981–84, 1989–93, and 1994–97. He was first elected to the Solomon Islands assembly in 1970 and, leading the newly formed centre-left People's Progress Party (PPP), became the country's first chief minister, in August 1974. He was replaced as chief minister in June 1976 by Peter Kenilorea, who went on to lead the country to independence in 1978. Mamaloni, now leading the People's Alliance Party (PAP), returned to power in 1981, after Kenilorea was defeated in a no-confidence motion. He formed a coalition government, which embarked on a programme of decentralization, creating five provincial ministries, but the centralist Kenilorea returned to power after the October 1984 general election and reversed this initiative.

At the February 1989 general election, the PAP re-established itself as the dominant party and Mamaloni was able to form the country's first single-party government. He pledged to reduce the influence of ‘foreign aid personnel’ and establish a republic, but with the economy deteriorating, Mamaloni resigned as PAP leader and, in October 1990, formed a ‘government of national unity’, which included Kenilorea as foreign minister. This caused splits in the PAP, persuading Mamaloni to form the new Group for National Unity and Reconciliation (GNUR) to contest the June 1993 general election. Although the GNUR was the largest single party in the new parliament, Mamaloni lost power to Francis Billy Hilly until November 1994, when he was re-elected as prime minister. His new government came under criticism for allowing unrestrained logging activity and for corruption within the bureaucracy. He stepped down as GNUR leader before the August 1997 general election, which was won by the Alliance for Change, led by Bartholomew Ulufa'alu.

Born in Rumahui Village, in Arosi, West Makira, he was educated in the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, before joining the British Colonial Administrative Service in 1966.