Author: Bill Standish, ANU

The opposition’s nomination of Works Minister Peter O’Neill as Papua New Guinea’s new prime minister on 2 August came as a shock to many.

But there were clues in some earlier press comments. Read more…

Author: Bill Standish, ANU

Papua New Guinea’s political dramas have intensified in the 10 weeks that Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has spent in intensive care in Singapore’s Raffles Hospital.

Only on 22 June did Arthur Somare, the Minister for Public Enterprises, tell Parliament that his 75-year-old father had undergone a heart valve operation plus two further emergency operations. Read more…

Author: Bill Standish, ANU

The 1990s were a decade of chaotic governance in Papua New Guinea (PNG), but some people are asking if the situation is any better now. Since 2006 the Somare government has taken credit for stability and new foreign investment in the minerals and petroleum sectors. The Opposition and civil society groups, by contrast, have alleged poor governance and pointed to the near collapse of essential services in many areas, while the conventions of democracy and the Standing Orders of Parliament are flouted.

Discontent from within the government could not be hidden on 20 July when the Deputy Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu, two other ministers and 17 other government MPs crossed the floor to sit with the Opposition. Read more…