Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has survived a motion of no confidence against him in Parliament.

During the proceedings, livestreamed on EMTV, Speaker Job Pomat announced the results of the vote as 16 votes in favour and 89 against.

In moving the motion, the member for Abau, Sir Puka Temu, nominated Sir Peter Ipatas as an alternative prime minister to Marape, and said the motion was moved on principle.

“This is not a vote of ambition, it is a vote of accountability, it is a vote of conscience. Mr Speaker what is the role of government if not to uplift its people,” Sir Puka said.

The seconder of the motion, Wabag Open MP Lino Tom acknowledged the government’s superior numbers, but said the opposition were acting in the interest of the people and challenged Marape to address them on the floor.

“He needs to tell the people because he is the chief accountable officer of this country,” Tom said.

“He can no longer blame his incompetent ministers. He can no longer blame any other person here on this floor.”

Speaker put question
The Speaker then went to immediately put the question, provoking the ire of the opposition bench with Madang MP Bryan Kramer accusing him of acting contrary to the Supreme Court order that had the House resume to hear the motion, which had initially been denied by the Parliament’s private business committee.

“Mr Speaker must be consistent with the privileges and the spirit and intent of the constitution that provide every member the opportunity to debate,” he said.

“This is a court order if you entertain this motion of ‘question be put’ then there will be contempt proceedings.”

Despite multiple points of order from the opposition calling for the motion to be debated, Pomat proceeded to put the question and the results were overwhelmingly Marape’s favour.

“Those in favour of this motion are 16 and those who are not in favour of this motion and who want the Honourable Member for Tari Pori, Honourable James Marape, to remain as prime minister are 89.”

After the vote, Marape moved a motion to address the movers of the motion, and spoke at length about the achievements of his government, while throwing jabs at the opposition MPs, many of who had served as ministers in his government at different times.

He finished by thanking all who supported him in today’s leadership challenge.

Thanks to members
“I want to say thank you for members on both sides of the House for your participation today.

“A sincere thank you to the 89 on their feet, who stood up to vote and I want to say thank you as your chief servant.

“I will try my absolute best to continue on leaving no place and no one behind as the ultimate aim of this government and should be for any government going forward into the future.”

The nominated challenger, Sir Peter, also rose to thank the opposition for nominating him, and to all the people of Papua New Guinea who reached out to him with messages of support.

He said he only accepted the nomination because so many MPs had complained about the prime minister’s performance.

Sir Ipatas challenged government MPs to stop bickering and gossiping about James Marape behind his back.

“As he rightly said, he is putting his time and effort into trying to make this country great,” he said.

Call to ‘not gossip’
“It is about our ministers and leaders and leaders of coalition partners not gossiping, but be open with the prime minister and talk about issues that we have for the country and for the people.

“This country belongs to all of us. Our people.”

Parliament is now adjourned until May 27.

Under new laws passed last month, Marape now has an 18-month reprieve from votes of no confidence.

With only two years left until the next election, RNZ Pacific understands this effectively gives him a clear run to the 2027 National General Election.

Several opposition MPs in Parliament on Tuesday urged Marape to make the most of the upcoming period of stability, and deliver some real results for Papua New Guineans.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has successfully thwarted a vote of no confidence after 75 MPs backed him and 32 voted for the opposition.

But the session was not without drama.

Just after 10am, after the opposition leader moved a motion for a vote of no confidence announcing Renbo Paita as the alternate prime minister, Parliament Haus descended into momentary chaos as members questioned why Speaker Job Pomat refused to allow debate after the motion.

The opposition had intended to use the opportunity to highlight pressing concerns that caused MPs to move to the opposition.

The Member for Madang, Bryan Kramer, a former minister of justice and police, challenged the Speaker to follow standing orders to the letter as stipulated in the constitution while Wabag MP Lino Tom accused the Speaker of “stifling the people’s voices” by not entertaining debate.

“The people of this country paid our salaries to debate this. The people need to know why we put in a vote of no confidence,” Tom said.

“This is the right forum where our voices need to be heard”

Speaker admits error
After intense exchanges between the chair and the opposition, the Speaker admitted to making an error in parliamentary process.

But he still proceeded to call for a vote.

PNG’s constitution allows a government a grace period of 18 months before a vote of no confidence can be brought to Parliament. Since 1977, every sitting prime minister has had to fend off threats of votes of no confidence.

James Marape himself, came to power in 2018, through a vote of no confidence.

While Prime Minister Marape may have been successful this time, he still faces the possibility of another vote of no confidence if the opposition musters enough numbers to do so.

Speaking after the vote, Marape said that while votes of no confidence were an essential part of democracy, Section 145 of the constitution, which provides for the process, had been abused in many instances.

“Provincial governors have five years to work. Provincial legislators have five years to work. The most important chair of the land has 18 months . . . and managing 18 months of politics and doing work, comes with great cost.”

The pressure is now on him to prove that that he has the ability and the political will to stem instances of corruption, fix the ailing economy, stem inflation and address crime — the biggest concerns for Papua New Guineans.

Over the next few days, the Prime Minister will announce a cabinet reshuffle to fill vacancies left by MPs who have left.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s opposition leader James Nomane says Parliament needs to be recalled immediately as the gravity of Wednesday’s actions to adjourn Parliament to dodge no-confidence vote “is something that cannot be taken lightly and can’t be dismissed”.

“This is not a dictatorship but a democratic country,” he said.

“If you say you have the numbers, why didn’t you allow the Vote of No Confidence to go ahead and you test your numbers, because the minute that happens, the PM will be disposed and we will have a new PM,” Nomane said, addressing Prime Minister James Marape.

He said Papua New Guineans lived in a country governed by the rule of law — the most important law governing the country was the constitution.

After the constitution, there were Organic Laws, Acts of Parliament, and the rules and regulations.

“The constitution is supreme, the Vote of No Confidence comes from Section 145 of the Constitution and it comes from the supreme law. Members of Parliament and dealing with the [no-confidence vote] need to take it very seriously on both sides of the house.”

‘Completely rejected’
“You have already heard from the last couple of motions we have submitted and it has been completely rejected by this Private Business Committee comprising of members of Parliament,” Nomane said.

He said the PBC is checking if the ‘tees’ and the ‘ayes’ have been crossed

“They have been nitpicking,” Nomane said,

“We brought our numbers, the office of the Prime Minister belongs to the people of Papua New Guinea.

“It is not the private business of one province, one district.

“There is no accountability.”

The government, using its numerical strength, voted 69-0 to adjourn Parliament until September.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s rising voice as opposition candidate for prime minister, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, has pushed back after addressing recent death threats.

Bird told RNZ Pacific he has declined police protection and is opting to use his own security after his nomination as opposition candidate for prime minister resulted in alleged threats to his personal safety.

“I was informed about 10 days ago of the threats against my life. I’ve heard a few more threats are in fact active,” he said.

“So I thought, probably the best way to declare it would be to put it out in the public domain.”

He said three senior government ministers informed him about the death threats and were no longer contacting him, due to concerns his phone was “being monitored”.

Bird was confident in his security to keep him safe and said whoever was behind the threats had picked on the wrong person.

“My people served with the allied forces in the Second World War. So my grandfather did that. He was uneducated. So picking on me is not a smart thing to do.”

RNZ Pacific has contacted the PNG police for comment after Bird accused authorities of illegally monitoring his phone and looking for dirt to charge and arrest him.

“I have nothing to hide. So, apparently, they haven’t found any dirt.”

PNG riots aftermath
“I do understand that they’re trying to connect me as one of the masterminds behind the Black Wednesday day events in Port Moresby.”

He said it would be “almost impossible because I was out of the country prior to that happening. And then I understand they’re looking now at all my travel allowances, so they’re looking at that to see what they can find.”

Regarding the threats, he said: “I’m not too stressed. These are some of the things you expect in PNG, otherwise you wouldn’t be in PNG.”

Bird said he did not trust the country’s police and declined their offer for protection, opting to use his own personal security instead.

“If things get pretty bad in the capital, I will just go back home. But for now, I’m just keeping a low profile, not really moving around, just restricting movements.”

He addressed sceptics who criticised him for attempting to boost his profile to become PNG’s next prime minister.

Bird said he had accepted the nomination as candidate out of “respect to his colleagues.”

‘Asked by my caucus’
“I didn’t put my hand up. I was asked by my caucus.”

He said, the country needed change, even if it was at the expense of his safety.

“Who wants to run around with security guards all the time?

“Whoever gets into the hot seat, whether it’s me or someone else, in all seriousness and honesty will soon to have to deal with these problems, the problems that are begging for solutions, and these are personal criticisms of Prime Minister Marape.”

He said supporters of the nation’s current leader James Marape lacked proper education and said it was “like a cult following”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Papua New Guinea MP who is being touted by the opposition as the next prime minister of the country says “my life is under threat”.

East Sepik governor Allan Bird said that since his nomination, he had been advised of this by a deputy police commissioner, who said they were monitoring the situation.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Bird claimed “senior government ministers” told him his phones had been illegally tapped.

“All the apparatus of state have been put on full alert to hunt down the most dangerous criminal in PNG: his name is Allan Bird,” he wrote on Facebook.

“This is not the country I was born into, this is not the country the founding fathers envisioned.”

He said “reliable sources” had told him various state institutions had been instructed to try and find anything illegal on him, and charge and arrest him.

Last week, Bird told RNZ Pacific the country needed to decentralise power to deal with its challenges.

He said PNG had “very serious challenges”.

“Anyone who fixes these problems will be hated just like Sir Mekere [Morauta] did 25 years ago. Doing what needs to be done is not pretty, but it has to be done. Someone has to be willing to do the hard things.

“Many countries have problems, but not many countries have all those challenges all at the same time. PNG does so right now.

“If the problems aren’t fixed quickly then they will continue to get worse. Most of our people experience these problems every day now. It’s a struggle for survival.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The man being touted by the opposition as the next leader of Papua New Guinea says the first thing his administration would do is put more focus on law and order.

East Sepik governor Allan Bird is being put forward as the opposition’s candidate for prime minister with a vote on a motion of no confidence likely in the last week of May.

Bird is realistic about his chances but he said it is important to have such a vote.

“I think the first thing we would do is just restructure the Budget and put more focus on things like law and order, bring that right to the top and deal with it quickly,” he said.

He spoke about what he aspires to do if he gets the chance.

Don Wiseman: Mr Bird, you had been delegated to look at the violence following the 2022 election, and it is clear that resolving this will be a huge problem.

AB: Not necessarily. It’s currently confined to the upper Highlands part of the country, but it is filtering down to Port Moresby and other places. I guess the reluctance to deal with the violence is that I’d say 90 percent of that violence stems from the aftermath of the elections.

From our own findings, we know that many leaders in that part of the world that run for elections actually use these warlords to help them get elected. And obviously, they’ve got like four years of downtime between elections, and this is how they spend their spare time. So, it’s hardly surprising.

I think our military and our police have the capability to deal with these criminal warlords and put them down. How shall I say it – with extreme prejudice. But you get a lot of interference in the command of the police and the Defence Force. I suspect that changes the operational orders once they get too close to dealing with these terrorists.

DW: Police have been given the power to use lethal force, but a lot of commentators would say the problems have more to do with the the lack of money, the lack of opportunity, the lack of education.

AB: The lack of education, opportunity, and things like that will play a small part. But again, as I said, I come from a province where we don’t have warlords running around heavily armed to the teeth. I mean, you have got to remember an AR-15, or a 4M, or anything like that. These things on the black market cost around 60,000 to 70,000 kina (NZ$20,000-25,000).

The ordinary Papua New Guinean cannot afford one of those things and guns are banned in public use — they’ve been banned for like 30 years. So how do these weapons get in? Just buying a bullet to operate one of these things is hard enough. So you got to ask yourself the question: how are illiterate people with perhaps no opportunity, able to come into possession of such weapons.

DW: The esteemed military leader Jerry Singarok compiled, at the request of the government about 15 years ago, a substantial report on what to do about the gun problem. But next to nothing of that has ever been implemented. Would you go back to something like that?

AB: Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for Major-General Singarok. I know him personally as well. We have had these discussions on occasions. You’ve got smart, capable people who have done a lot of work in areas such as this, and we just simply put them on the backburner and let them collect dust.

DW: The opposition hopes to have its notice for a motion of no confidence in the Marape government in Parliament on 28 or 29 May, when Parliament resumes. It was adjourned two weeks ago when the opposition tried to present their motion, with the government claiming it was laden with fake names, something the opposition has strenuously denied. Do you have the numbers?

AB: Obviously we’re talking with people inside the government because that’s where the numbers are. Hence, we’ve been encouraged to go ahead with the vote of no confidence. The chance of maybe being Prime Minister per se, is probably like 5 percent. So it could be someone else.

I say that because in Papua New Guinea, it’s really difficult for someone with my background and my sort of discipline and level of honesty to become prime minister. It’s happened a couple of times in the past, but it’s very rare.

DW: You’re too honest?

AB: I’m too honest. Yes.

DW: We’ve looked at the law and audit issue. What else needs fixing fast?

Well, we’ve got a youth bulge. We’ve got a huge population problem. We’ve got to start looking at practical ways in terms of how we can quickly expand opportunities to use your word. Whatever we’ve been doing for the last 10 years has not worked. We’ve got to try something new.

My proposal is actually really keeping with international management best practice. You go to any organisation this is what they do. I think New Zealand does it as well, and Australia does, which is you’ve got to push more funds and responsibilities closer to the coalface and that’s the provinces.

If I could do one thing that would change the trajectory of this country, it’s actually to push more resources away from the centralised government. We actually have a centralised system of government right now.

The Prime Minister [Marape] has so much control to the point where it’s up to him to authorise the building of a road in a particular place worth, say, 5 million kina. The national government is the federal government, if you like, is looking after projects that are as low as say, 2 to 3 million New Zealand dollars in value all the way up to projects that are $500 million in value.

So the question is: there’s got to be better separation of powers, better separation of responsibilities and, of course, clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities. Right now, we’re all competing for the same space. It’s highly inefficient with duplicating a lot of things and there’s a lot of wastage of resources. The way to do that is to decentralise.

DW: What concerns do you have about MPs having direct control over significant amounts of these funds that are meant to go to their electorates? Should they?

AB: Well, I don’t think any of us should have access to direct funding in that regard. However, this is the prevailing political culture that we live in. So again, coming back to my idea about ensuring that we get better funding at the sub-national levels is to strengthen the operational capability of the public servants there, so that once they start to perform, then hopefully over time, there’ll be less of a need to directly give funds to members of parliament because the system itself will start functioning.

We’ve killed the system over the last 20 or 30 years and so now the system is overly dependent on one individual which is wrong.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s opposition has vowed to remove Prime Minister James Marape and his government from power.

During a media conference held last Friday, alternative prime minister Allan Bird shed light on the multitude of unresolved issues accumulated over the past four years under Marape’s leadership, assuring the public that they would address these concerns once elected.

Bird expressed optimism, saying: “Definitely, we are obviously in discussions, we have friends.”

This remark implied the formation of a substantial coalition aimed at challenging the current government’s authority.

Former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill further fuelled the opposition’s determination, proclaiming: “If we were not confident, we would not be handing in the motion.”

This sentiment was echoed by Sinasina-Yongomugl MP Kerenga Kua, who offered an unprecedented wave of positivity.

“I have never felt this optimistic in a situation like this. We are very confident,” Kua said.

Bird highlights challenges
Bird highlighted the pressing economic challenges faced by the country, drawing
attention to the recent rioting and looting on “Black Wednesday”, an expression symbolising a profound financial crisis.

He emphasised the immense pressure on the government to find solutions due to their governance and control over the nation’s finances.

“The current state of our economy, particularly as demonstrated on Black Wednesday, is unprecedented,” Bird said.

“This alone exerts immense pressure on the government,” Bird said.

“They must propose solutions because they hold the reins of power and are responsible for managing the country’s financial resources, among other obligations.”

Bird concluded his remarks by urging the Marape administration to relinquish power and allow another party to navigate the existing challenges.

‘Time to hand over control’
“It’s time to hand over control and let someone else guide us out of the quagmire we find ourselves in,” he said.

The opposition’s unwavering confidence and determination signify a significant shift in the political landscape.

“With numerous outstanding issues at the forefront and an expanding support base within Parliament, the battle for leadership in the country is poised to intensify in the weeks ahead,” he said.

Gorethy Kenneth is a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird says Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape must take responsibility for the Port Moresby riots two weeks ago.

The National reports Governor Bird saying the police cannot be punished for the looting and burning, the government is totally responsible for what happened.

“You can’t just pass the buck, we’ve got to take responsibility for that,” said Bird, a government MP.

He said the rioting — dubbed Black Wednesday — was a stain on PNG’s history, a stain on all members of Parliament, and a stain on all of decisionmakers, who for many years had failed to deal with the underlying issues in the country.

Governor Bird said the lack of employment and increases in living costs had contributed to the buildup of frustrations that led to the riots in which lives were lost, women raped, and businesses destroyed.

Last week, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge said a change in leadership would restore confidence in government, and called for Marape to put his leadership of the Pangu Party on the table.

Wenge said he was not going anywhere, that he was a Pangu Pati member, but a change in leadership was necessary.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Today, In this episode of A View from Afar political scientist, and former Pentagon analyst, Dr Paul Buchanan, and Selwyn Manning will analyse the question:

What does the Geopolitical balancing that is taking place in the West and South-West Pacific mean for the region and the globe?

Paul and Selwyn will consider this question from several angles, and provide a context to the headlines that suggest both global powers, the USA and the Peoples Republic of China, are on a collision-course toward conflict.

Paul will take us through the US-PNG and Japan-NZ bilateral security/military agreements as a balancing response to the PRC-Solomons security agreement.

In addition, Paul will consider the question: Does the PRC have legitimate interests in the Pacific and, as a great power, should those interests be understood and respected?

Selwyn will consider whether China’s ascendancy as a global power threatens the United States’ position as the ‘preeminent defender’ of the Global Order?

And Selwyn will raise for debate, highlighting what the two global powers’ messaging was at the Shangri-La security dialogue that took place over last weekend.

Paul will then analyse what this all means for the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

INTERACTION WHILE LIVE: Paul and Selwyn encourage their live audience to interact while they are live with questions and comments.

They recommended the audience does so via EveningReport’s YouTube channel, as Facebook has undergone significant changes. Here’s the link: Youtube (remember to subscribe to the channel).

For the on-demand audience, you can also keep the conversation going on this debate by clicking on one of the social media channels below:

• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Youtube
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here, also YouTube podcasts and the Podcast hosts below.

RECOGNITION:

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

If there is a glimmer of hope in Papua New Guinea’s violence marred national general elections, then it has to be the elevation of a lone woman to the National Parliament.

It took the People’s National Congress (PNC) Governor-elect of Central Province, Rufina Peter, three attempts to wrest power away from Pangu’s Robert Agarobe at the close of counting last week.

The contest went down to the wire and Peter won on the weight of second and third preferential votes from eliminated candidates to unseat Agarobe.

She becomes the second woman to win the Central regional seat –– the first being vocal Papua Besena MP Dame Josephine Abaijah. And she is the eighth woman to be elected to Parliament, the first in a decade.

In another major development, the people of Madang are on the cusp of sending a second woman to join Peter in Parliament.

Rai Coast hopes up
In the remote district of Rai Coast –– famous for hosting a Russian anthropologist a century ago – jittery voters are keeping their fingers crossed as distribution of preferences was taking place over the weekend.

These are the same preferences that elevated Peter and given Sawang’s strong lead in the first half of the count, the preferences are hoped to push her to  victory.

Last Friday, she was in second place on 5086 votes after the first preferences were completed from defending MP Peter Sapia’s LLG area, pushing Sapia to 7127 votes.

Counting of preferential votes is continuing at a snail’s pace in Rai Coast as the coasties hold their breath.

More than 62,361 people of Central Province cast their vote for Peter, who polled 3444 more votes against incumbent Agarobe.

She surpassed the absolute majority of 60,640 after the 20th exclusion of Nelson Saroa who had 25,551 votes distributed, which pushed Rufina to collect 6779, making her reach the target with 62,361 votes against Agarobe who had 58,917 votes.

She said at her declaration on Friday night that she was aware of the magnitude of politics played out on the floor of Parliament, the tasks ahead of her, the wrestling she would need to do to give her Central Province people what they deserve.

First woman declared
An economist and Goilala’s first female politician, Rufina Peter is now the first woman to be declared in the 2022 national election.

Peter admitted that being elected as the political head of a province came with great responsibility and she was confident she could deliver to her people by working as a team.

PNC leader Peter O’Neill was first to congratulate the party’s “iron lady”, saying her declaration was a proud moment for the party.

“Rufina Peter’s declaration is a proud moment for our Party. She fought hard and stands strongly for those she represents. It is a pity that the ferocity and aggressive nature of this terrible national general election has sidelined a record number of female candidates,” O’Neill said.

In an interview over the weekend, Peter said Central Province had many educated elites who were instrumental in building the nation on the eve of independence.

“In my five years, I will make that happen again while in office, I will carry my people’s plight, I will fight for our women, our children and the underprivileged,” she said.

Dedicated to ‘female empowerment’
Peter assured the people of Central and PNG women that she stood ready to work with all members-elect in Central and the provincial administration to serve her people in five districts.

The new governor also thanked her predecessor, Robert Agarobe, for leading and governing Central Province over the past five years.

She dedicated her victory to God, the women of Central and male champions of women empowerment.

She acknowledged all security forces and electoral officials for delivering the elections in trying circumstances, and also praised the PNC party for believing in and endorsing her to run under its banner.

Gorethy Kenneth is a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea politics — or for that matter, Parliament — will no longer be the same any more in this country.

The defeats of experienced and long serving MPs Patrick Pruaitch, Davis Steven, John Simon and Dr Allan Marat has completely changed the landscape of politics in PNG.

And similar upsets are expected in coming days as counting proceeds in more than 70 electorates around the country.

Continuity in leadership at the national level in any country is important, and in PNG, it is no different.

This country still requires the presence of a good number of capable individuals in Parliament at any given term of the House who have the necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities to lead Parliament, or better still, provide that guidance needed by those who govern to ensure proper checks and balance are maintained.

The defeats of the four long-serving MPs reflects the wishes of their people and must be respected. No one will unwind the clock of events that have taken place in this election.

However, the losses suffered so far and the likelihood of other leaders bowing out leaves huge holes in Parliament and in their political parties which will take time to fill.

20 years in Parliament
National Alliance Party leader and a former Treasurer Pruaitch, an economist by profession, lost the Aitape Lumi seat he has held since 2002 — the year another stable and highly respected politician and lawyer, Dr Allan Marat, entered Parliament.

Joining them a decade later were John Simon who took the Maprik Open seat in East Sepik province and Davis Steven who took the Esa-ala seat in Milne Bay province.

Deputy National Alliance party leader Walter Schnaubelt and East Sepik Governor-elect Allan Bird thanked the people of Aitape-Lumi for their support for Pruaitch over the last 20 years.

They advised over the weekend that the party would convene their meeting to address this issue among others and make an announcement later.

The casualty list so far includes Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat, Maprik MP John Simon, Huon-Gulf MP Ross Seymour, ENB Governor Nakikus Konga, Koroba-Kopiago MP Petrus Thomas, Nawaeb MP Kennedy Wenge, and Menyama MP Benjamin Philip.

All lost their seats to first time MPs.

Gorethy Kenneth is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

For weeks, we have seen the election violence as it spread in horrific proportions around the Highlands region, mainly in Enga and other provinces there.

Men, women, and even children caught up in the fray costing lives and properties into the millions.

Yesterday, the capital city also came under similar election related violence for the first time.

Video footage captured by pedestrians commuting between two of the city’s most busiest shopping centres, in the heart of the capital city at Waigani, adjacent to the municipal authority, the country’s major sporting infrastructure hub where counting is done, and less than a kilometre from the nation’s seat of power Parliament House, human beings were hacked in front of children along a main arterial road.

It seemed the worst fears of the violence in the Highlands had just reared its ugly head yesterday around 3pm near the counting vicinity of the Sir John Guise stadium.

Supporters of candidates contesting the Moresby Northeast clashed following disputes that originated within the venue and escalated outside into a fully fledged machete-wielding hunt that saw three individuals slashed.

We wonder why this is taking place in the capital. Is it enough we have parts of the country facing turmoil and the weak and innocent already threatened with death, the capital then grinds to a halt at the hands of thugs?

Thugs with nothing better to do
Yes, thugs, who have nothing better to do then fighting to kill for just one individual and outcome.

We commend the work of the security forces, who while they were not able to prevent the initial hacking that took place, were able to react swiftly and evict all those camping out in makeshift tents along the road reserves beside the stadium, the main gathering points sheltering such thugs.

The Post-Courier joins the call by prominent Papua New Guinea business leader and advocate for change Anthony Smaré who reacted with a call on all leaders looking to consolidate their political future in the 11th Parliament to form government, while the capital seems set to ignite in violence if not addressed very soon.

“So now we have people chopping up other people with machetes outside counting venues in the nation’s capital!

“Law breakers want to become law makers!

“This insanity is happening in Port Moresby, outside the national stadium, the largest shopping centre and opposite city hall, within 1km of Parliament House, Supreme Court, Government offices, and PM’s official residence! 500 meters from embassies of Australia, NZ, Britain, and China.

‘In the seat of power!’
“It’s one thing when this violence happens in distant places like Porgera and people can cover their ears with their hands and say police should deal with it, but now it’s in the seat of power itself!

“Potential Prime Ministers, you need to abandon your camps and come back to Port Moresby and show some national leadership calling for restoration of rule of law and calm.

“Seize the opportunity this provides to you to act prime ministerial — come out in public and call for calm. If you want to be national leaders, show some traits of NATIONAL LEADERSHIP!” Smaré stated bluntly.

We support this call and call on the very leaders who are supposed to lead, to lead, whether re-elected, new, or incumbent, heads of security forces, you all have a form of influence that goes beyond any win.

Port Moresby is the capital city.

If it falls into violence because proactive leadership was not taken, then God help us all.

This editorial was published by the PNG Post-Courier today, 25 July 2022. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

She is brave — no other word can describe this Papua New Guinean woman.

Ruth Undi Siwinu isn’t only challenging the norms and a huge field of male candidates in Southern Highlands, but knows the task ahead and she is prepared to take them head on.

In a province where leadership is regarded as “men’s business”, Siwinu takes on everyone –– including the sitting MP and Pangu strongman William Powi.

“Let’s make history and vote a woman candidate into Parliament,” Siwini told hundreds of supporters at her rally in Mendi, Southern Highlands Province.

An independent candidate, Siwinu told the huge group that poverty was real in this province  and a country that were blessed with vast resources that were bringing in billions of kina every year.

“I have travelled to the length and breadth of this province. I have been to all the five districts in the province and I saw that my people are still struggling to live,” she said.

“Why are my people struggling when Southern Highlands is blessed with all resources and the country is sitting on the resources Southern Highlands produce.

‘A mistake somewhere’
“There is a mistake somewhere and we have to find out. We want a women leader to lead the province, we have given enough time to the men to lead the province but they have failed us big time,” she said.

Siwinu said male leaders in the province were not providing services that the people deserved.

“They are playing too much politics and did not serve the people for many years. We have to stop this,” she added.

She said that the national election has provided the opportunity for the people to change the leadership and vote in a women leader to drive Southern Highlands forward into the future.

She urged all mothers, girls, aunties and youths to vote in a women candidate in this election to effect change in the province. She called on all women to rally behind her for a better Southern Highlands.

‘Representing the marginalised’
“I am standing here representing you women, the marginalised. Women are the people who suffer most in this province and I want you all women to make a strong stand and make your vote count in Ruth Undi,” she said.

She said she had spent K1 million (NZ$446,000) investing in Southern Highlands, helping women through her Mama Helpim Mama Charity organisation.

“I have Mama Helpim Mama charity organisation, though this organisation I spent K1 million helping Southern Highlands mothers.

“I have seen the real struggle in the villages, I serve the people already, I am only need the political power to continue what I am doing,” she said.

Eighty six of the 2351 candidates registered for next month’s general election are women.

Kolopu Waima is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning discuss how numerous countries have committed aid, intelligence expertise, military hardware and weapons to a multilateral effort in support of Ukraine.

What does this 2022-style of military diplomacy mean for the independent foreign policies of countries like New Zealand – with its style of incremental contributions in aid of the defence of Ukraine?

For example, the New Zealand Government this week confirmed the deployment of a C-130 Hercules with 50 personnel to Europe; a further eight logistics specialists based in Germany; $13 million in further support to procure equipment for the Ukraine military.

On announcing the move, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: “Our support is to assist the Ukraine Army to repel a brutal Russian invasion because peace in the region of Europe is essential for global stability.”

Ardern added: “The global response has seen an unprecedented amount of military support pledged for Ukraine, and more help to transport and distribute it is urgently needed, and so we will do our bit to help.” (ref. ForeignAffairs.co.nz, https://foreignaffairs.co.nz/2022/04/11/mil-osi-new-zealand-new-zealand-sends-c130-hercules-and-50-strong-team-to-europe-to-support-ukraine/ )

So today, we examine how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with its method of total annihilation, has drawn once relatively independent nations into the fold of western security alliances. And we will consider whether such moves will become a permanent configuration?

Also in this episode, we will discuss the South-West Pacific strategic balance. Specifically, why has the People’s Republic of China, and the Solomon Islands bilateral security agreement, upset Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America?

You can comment on this debate by clicking on one of these social media channels and interacting in the social media’s comment area. Here are the links:

• Facebook.com/selwyn.manning
• Youtube
• Twitter.com/Selwyn_Manning

If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

Prime Minister James Marape has called on Papua New Guineans not to vote for “money, relatives or cargo” in the country’s 2022 general election that kicks off later this month.

He made the call yesterday on the third anniversary of his resignation from the O’Neill-led government on 11 April 2019 due to “sheer frustration” at the way the country was being run.

Marape on that day in 2019 had resigned in protest at the way he said at the time Peter O’Neill was running down the country.

Reflecting on that occasion, Marape urged the people “to exercise your right to vote wisely in the 2022 elections”.

“Don’t vote for money, don’t vote for relatives, and don’t vote for people or parties who have sold your birthright,” he said.

“If I have not done well for this country, if I am not the leader of your choice, then vote in someone else who can do better.

“Pangu Pati, and the coalition that I have worked with over the last three years –– including National Alliance, United Resources Party, United Labour Party, People’s Party, Liberal Party, National Party, People’s Movement for Change, Allegiance Party, Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party, One Nation Party, People’s Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and others –– have tried our best to stabilise our economy and restore credibility for this country.”

‘Steadied the ship’
He said so much had happened since that fateful day on 11 April 2019.

“I never knew I was going to be Prime Minister. I resigned [as] one man because I was fed up with the way Peter O’Neill was running down our country.

“Yes, he was doing some good, but the greater part of him was for personal gratification and gain and I could not knowingly remain in his government.”

Marape said the country had been through a lot of political turbulence since he took office, the most-infamous being the failed no-confidence vote of November 2020, spearheaded by O’Neill.

“There were political challenges right up until the 18-month grace period of my election as prime minister was up in November 2020,” he said.

“There were economic challenges, there were covid-19 challenges, but we have prevailed through the Grace of God.

“We have steadied the ship.”

The writs are issued on April 28, and voting is due June 11-24.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz