Solomon Islands incumbent PM Manasseh Sogavare re-elected in East Choiseul

It's the opening move in the political chess match to form the next government of Solomon Islands.

Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late on Friday night after a day of counting according to the national broadcaster SIBC

The result is expected to be officially declared Saturday morning by the Electoral Commission along with a host of others as counting continues in provincial centres across the country.

But it is still early days as the first upset of the election also took place overnight with George Tema unseating Silas Tausinga in the West New Georgia-Vona Vona constituency.

According to the Electoral Commission's political party breakdown of the election results received so far, Sogavare's Our Party is leading with 34 percent of votes counted, followed by the former opposition leader Matthew Wale's Solomon Islands Democratic Party which has 26 percent.

Independent election candidates round out the top three with 23.4 percent of the votes counted so far and then there is a sharp drop-off to the fourth-placed People's First Party on 8 percent.

Once all 50 members of Parliament have been officially elected, they will be whisked back from the provinces to the capital, Honiara where lobbying camps are already being set up in some of the capital's hotels.

One political party leader and election candidate, whose result has yet to be declared, told RNZ Pacific the first of these camps will be at the Honiara Hotel, and that coalition talks are already underway.

New parliament likely to have fewer women MPs

There is also likely to be less woman in Parliament after another incumbent woman MP Lillian Maefai was ousted by Franklyn Derek Wasi in the East Makira Constituency.

Two other incumbent women MPs Lanelle Tananganda and Ethel Vokia have not re-contested their seats in this election making way instead for their husbands who had formerly lost the seats because of corruption convictions to stand.

This leaves Freda Soria Comua as the last of the four women MPs in the former parliament still with a chance to make it back into the house.

There are 20 women among the 334 candidates contesting in this election but it is very rare for women to be elected in Solomon Island's male dominated politics.

In fact three out of the four women in the last parliament came into the house as proxies for their husbands.

- RNZI