Peter Shannel Agovaka

Who is Peter Shannel Agovaka?

Peter Shannel Agovaka is a Solomon Islands politician.

He studied at Telecom College in Papua New Guinea, then at the North Sydney Institute of Engineering in Australia, before working as a Community Affairs Officer for Gold Ridge Mining Limited in Solomon Islands.

His career in national politics began when he was elected to Parliament as the member for Central Guadalcanal in the April 2006 general election. He was appointed Minister for Provincial Government and Constituency Development in Snyder Rini's government, but lost his Cabinet position when Rini resigned before a motion of no confidence in Parliament in May. In August, however, the new Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, appointed him Minister for Commerce, Industries and Employment, a position he held until the Sogavare government was overthrown by a motion of no confidence in December 2007. Under Derek Sikua's ensuing premiership, Agovaka was, for a time, Leader of the Independent Members of Parliament, from January to September 2008.

He retained his seat in Parliament in the August 2010 general election, as a member of the newly formed Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Relations in Prime Minister Danny Philip's Cabinet. When Gordon Darcy Lilo replaced Philip as Prime Minister in November 2011, Agovaka retained his position in government. He was, however, sacked on 9 February 2012, after having, during a meeting with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in Fiji, "discussed the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations" between the two countries. Lilo wrote publicly to Shannel and told him he had breached "collective Cabinet responsibility": "As a developing country Solomon Islands should continue to strengthen our ties with traditional partners before pursuing new diplomatic groupings".