C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT MORESBY 000385

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/14/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR BP
SUBJECT: SOLOMON ISLANDS: EXPRESSING USG CONCERNS

REF: STATE 151965

CLASSIFIED BY: Robert Fitts, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Port
Moresby, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)



1.(C) SUMMARY: Though the Foreign Minister avoided direct
contact, Ambassador made sure that he received the points reftel
along with a personal letter following up on a recent related
conversation. Oti is headed to New York for UNGA and we
recommend that these concerns feature in any contact with him
there. The Solomon Island would-be political elite is very
frustrated by the responsible constraints imposed on them by
RAMSI and we should anticipate additional recalcitrant tantrums
in the future. END SUMMARY

2.(SBU) Foreign Minster Patteson Oti artfully ducked our
attempts to reach him September 13 and 14. (He stayed home
allegedly without a landline and in an area where cell phone
service could not reach.) However, we made sure he got the
referenced documents through his office. Ambassador also
detailed USG concerns in a conversation with his Permanent
Secretary.

SIPDIS

3.(SBU) Oti departed for UNGA on an awkward flight via Vanuatu.
This was made necessary as his visa had been canceled (along
with those of all Solomon Island MPs) by Australia, which is the
usual route to the outside world. One of our business contacts
noted this will be very good for the airlines as MPs have been
traveling frequently and don't feel obliged to pay for their
tickets.

4.(C) COMMENT: Oti was in the thick of the seemingly irrational
SIG decision to expel the Aussie High Commissioner. The plan
was endorsed at a cabinet meeting, with only one dissent.
Resentment over RAMSI constraints on their natural proclivities
was a common thread in all our recent conversations with
government figures, though most were able to dress it up in
nationalist rhetoric. Widespread, though thinning, public
support for RAMSI's policing success should continue to curb
this government's actions, but there will be many bumps in the
road ahead for RAMSI and for good governance.

5.(SBU) The no-confidence vote now scheduled for October 2 could
provide a turning point. But the new Parliament is composed of
50 individuals with tangled objectives and the outcome is
impossible to predict.

FITTS