Solomons mark first 100 days of peace-keeping

By MARY-LOUISE O'CALLAGHAN, Herald correspondent

HONIARA - "Get your act together mates", read the caption on the front page of a special edition of the Solomon Star newspaper marking the first 100 days of the regional intervention in the South Pacific nation.

And although he'd never be so crass to come right out and say it, the caption - run beneath a photograph of the intervention boss, Nick Warner, witnessing a very public handshake between the Solomons Prime Minister, Alan Kemakeza and the Leader of Opposition, John Garo - couldn't have summed up better for Warner exactly what his message must be to those whose country he has just helped pull back from the abyss.

The playful poetic licence of the Star reflects the relaxed mood of the relationship that Warner and his cohorts leading the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) have achieved in their interactions with Solomon Islands' body politic thus far.

Right up there with the restoration of the rule of law, this relatively trouble-free political relationship is one of the key achievements of RAMSI's first 100 days but it is also the one most likely to be tested in the months and years ahead.

For if the region is serious about (re)building this half-formed nation into a viable, self-sustaining entity, then the 100 days just clocked up is really only the very beginning of an ambitious experiment in nation building never before attempted in our region.

Not that the extraordinary success of the initial establishment phrase - the return of almost 4000 weapons, the surrender and arrest of key militants from both sides of the conflict, the complete absence of any armed opposition so far - should be taken for granted.

Much of this is due to the soundness of the decision to intervene, the level of political commitment, which has ensured that those sent in have had the resources to do the job properly, the size of the military footprint and the sheer professionalism of the many Australians, New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders who make up what was, until last week, a 2000-strong force.

But the ease and speed with which the milestones of the first 100 days have been rolled out also reflects the long overdue nature of the intervention.

The suffering, indignities and decline in the very basics of life that the majority of Solomon Islanders have had to endure over the last three years has meant that when, post-Bali and post-Iraq, John Howard finally decided to shift the focus of his security agenda closer to home, Solomon Islanders and their island neighbours were ready to seize the opportunity.

The importance of this embrace stands in stark contrast to the deadly debacle playing out in Iraq.

But it should not be an excuse, once most of the Solomons culprits are behind bars, for a return to the old complacency towards our neighbours.

Nor should it be assumed, despite the decision to reduce the military contingent by a 1000 to 800 by Christmas, that it is downhill from here.

In many ways RAMSI is about to head into its most difficult and complex phase - that of long-term systemic reform.

Rebuilding a nation is a complex task, requiring intervention into far more sensitive areas of sovereignty than law and order.

If done properly, the reform in the Solomons will require RAMSI to carry out a thorough gutting of the culture of corruption that has so infected governance in the Solomon Islands.

The task now is not just to clean up but to create a culture of accountability that will sustain the Solomons' systems of governance against internal assault. A massive grassroots programme of political education needs to be implemented over the next five years as the country's moribund education sector is rebuilt to ensure all Solomon Islanders are clear about their rights and responsibilities under a democratic system.

Like most poetic licence, the exhortation placed in Warner's mouth by the Star for Solomon Islanders to get their acts together reflects only what everyone is already thinking: Solomon Islands leaders, intellectuals and citizens must now seize this unique opportunity and make use of this rare second chance to build their nation.