The Solomon Islands parliament was sworn in on Monday under heavy security, as foreign peacekeepers arrested another opposition politician after violent protests against the election of Prime Minister Snyder Rini.
Hundreds of foreign peacekeepers and police cordoned off the building for the swearing-in ceremony as a helicopter hovered overhead, amid fears of further violent protests against Rini.
Opposition MP Patteson Oti said the lockdown was too heavy handed.
"It portrays a negative image of a parliament under siege ... and of a parliament ruled by the military - that is not the case," Oti told reporters allowed into parliament.
After the swearing-in, Rini was driven away by peacekeepers in flak jackets. Rini has been under police protection in an undisclosed location since his election last Tuesday.
Rini later told a news conference that life was returning to normal in the looted and burnt capital Honiara, with public transport, banks, schools and markets re-opening.