Michael Somare rejects political action

PAPUA New Guinea's founding father, Michael Somare, has left the Raffles hospital in Singapore, 4 1/2months after a series of operations for his heart condition.

Aged 75, he emerged no longer prime minister or leader of the National Alliance, the biggest party in parliament.

His son Arthur, who is also a parliamentarian, told AAP: "He's in good health and he'll be in Singapore a little while longer, quite simply to ensure he's in close proximity to the hospital."

The National newspaper in PNG published an undated photo released by the Somare family of Sir Michael and Arthur Somare, taken at the hospital.

The younger Somare told a court in Port Moresby on Monday that he supervised the service to his father, last Friday afternoon, of court papers to facilitate a legal challenge filed by the executive council of East Sepik province, which Sir Michael has represented in parliament for 43 years.

The council is challenging the legitimacy of the parliamentary election of Peter O'Neill as Prime Minister on August 2, claiming the post was not vacant.

But Arthur Somare said that while Sir Michael shares the view of the East Sepik council, there was "no value" in his becoming a party to the action.

The new government led by Mr O'Neill is meanwhile fighting through the courts to suspend the financial powers of the East Sepik and Morobe provincial governments.

It is also struggling to respond to the alarmed response of the resources industry, responsible for 80 per cent of PNG's exports, to the announcement last week by new Mining Minister Byron Chan that control of all resources would be handed by the state to landowners.

And this week, many of the workers in a 1400 labour force building a liquefied natural gas plant outside Port Moresby went on strike for higher pay.

-The Australian

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