Jeremiah Manele, the new prime minister-elect of the Solomon Islands

Internationaldesk:
Jeremiah Manele was elected as the new Solomon Islands prime minister on Thursday.  Solomon Islands Governor-General David Vunagi made the announcement.  Vunagi said after a secret ballot this morning that Manele defeated opposition leader Matthew Wale by 18 votes to 31 in the newly elected 50-seat parliament.  One member of parliament did not participate in the vote.