Somare willing to serve again...undecided after 2012

Sir Michael Somare is willing to serve as prime minister of Papua New Guinea again, but he says he's unsure if he'll run for his East Sepik electorate at the 2012 election.

Sir Michael's comments on Sunday came as the government of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill obtained the signature of Governor-General Sir Michael Oglio on a document dismissing the political veteran from the seat he has held for 43 years.

'I am willing - I am willing to serve as prime minister again,' the 76-year-old Sir Michael told AAP.

'Although I do not know if I will run for East Sepik again. There is a lot to consider.'

Sir Michael said he would not comment on the Supreme Court decision, due on Monday, that could return him to office if the five-man bench rules that Mr O'Neill was not constitutionally elected.

The government on Sunday obtained the signature of the governor-general rescinding leave granted to Sir Michael to miss parliament in May while he was in Singapore undergoing heart surgery.

The document also says that, as a consequence, Sir Michael is no longer a sitting MP.

'I cannot believe they have done this to me, after 43 years - 44 next year,' Sir Michael said.

At the press conference Sir Michael said little other than to urge the nation to remain calm in the lead-up to Monday's court decision.

The three heart operations that kept him absent from PNG for five months have left the usually stocky but fit-looking man thinner and frail.

However, he was extremely alert at the press conference, laughing at jokes directed at the O'Neill side and checking messages on his mobile phone.

His son, suspended MP Arthur Somare, said he would file a legal challenge against speaker Jeffery Nape for ruling his father was dismissed from parliament.

Sir Michael was PNG's first prime minister when it gained independence from Australia in 1975.

He went on to serve as foreign minister and opposition leader, before becoming prime minister again at the 2002 elections and again in 2007, making him PNG's longest-serving leader.

SKY NEWS

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