Solomon Islands chief electoral officer Jasper Anisi told a reliable media source on Tuesday all elections materials have been distributed and the country is ready to go to the polls.

In the Solomon Islands have opened their polls.

However, before the first ballots were cast, a political party president and election candidate has spoken to a reliable media source that on the eve of the election that coalition negotiations are already taking place and the first political lobbying camp is being set up at the Honiara Hotel.

The polls were opened at 7am and will close at 4pm, with over 400 thousand Solomon Islanders are expected to exercise their democratic right and vote to elect their national and provincial representatives.

According to the electoral commission, there are 334 election candidates in the running for the 50 available seats in the national election and only 20 of them are women.

There are 219 candidates contesting under parties and 115 as independents.

In the provincial assembly elections, there are 816 candidates contesting – 781 are men and 35 are women.

Out of this lot, 724 are contesting as independents and 92 under political party banners.

In both the national and provincial elections – which are being conducted simultaneously for the first time this year – independent candidates far outnumber the candidates fielded by any single political party.

Historically independent candidates have always played a big part in the formation of coalition governments in Solomon Islands as king makers.

In fact in the year 2019, prime minister Manasseh Sogavare under the caretaker government actually contested as an independent candidate, who formally registered his ‘Our Party’ after the polls, and then proceeded to sign up most of the independent MPs to create what was the largest party in the last house.

Sources have stated that the party president has devised that coalition negotiations are well underway to employ the same strategy of that year or even a variation of it to obtain the votes in this elections.