BY CAROL-ANNE SULEGA
GORDON Darcy Lilo, the Member of Parliament (MP) elect for Central Honiara and Parliamentary wing leader of the Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement (SIPRA), stated that the move announced by Solomon Islands United Party (SIUP) to join the Coalition for Advancement, Reform, and Empowerment (CARE) is not a gain.
When queried about the possibility of collaborating with CARE after the announcement of a pact signed between CARE, SIUP, and Umi 4 Change (U4C), he responded, “Not a new thing – not a gain.”
Prior to the recent signing of the pact between SIUP and U4C with CARE, a published article suggested that Lilo and SIUP may come to a consensus to collaborate with CARE based on specific portfolio arrangements.
Lilo clarified his stance exclusively to Island Sun at the time stating, “I do not understand where that came from, but we are consulting between all parties.”
It was not clear whether this referred specifically to consultations between SIPRA and SIUP, prompting Island Sun to seek SIUP’s perspective on consultations between the two parties and CARE, as well as the possibility of GDL collaborating with CARE.
The SIUP executive responded, “UP cannot confirm nor speak for other candidates’ positions on any matter, if they are from another party. If GDL used ‘we’ in his reply, that refers to his SIPRA executive and not UP.”
