Lanelle Tanangada has secured an historic by-election victory in Solomon Islands, becoming the first ever woman MP for Western province and defeating a former prime minister in the process.
Lanelle Tanangada MP for Gizo Kolombangara Constituency. May 2018. Photo: Solomon Star newspaper
Mrs Tanangada polled more than 50 percent in the Gizo Kolombangara constituency beating runner up candidate and former prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo by more than 1,000 votes.
Mrs Tanangada is married to ousted MP Jimson Tanangada whose conviction for bribing voters during the 2014 general elections prompted the by-election.
It is the second consecutive election win for the Tanangada's over Mr Lilo who filed the successful petition against Mr Tanangada.
However Lanelle Tanangada's tenure will be a shortened one, with parliament to dissolve at the end of the year.
#Solomon Islands. Lanelle Tanangada is the second #woman to have secured a seat through by-election in the 50 seat parliament. https://t.co/xYDhKvJ3wj
— Pauline Soaki (@PaulineSoaki) May 24, 2018
Already Mr Lilo's supporters have said their focus has turned to preparing for the next showdown in the 2019 general election.
