PNGBLOGS

by BRYAN KRAMER Full bench (5 Judges) of the Supreme Court chaired by the Chief Justice Salamo Injia has upheld former Ombudsman Commission Ila Geno and former Opposition Leader Belden Namah applications challenging the O’Neill Government’s amendments to Section 145 of Constitution relating to a motion of no confidence. Section 145 of the Constitution provides Parliament the power to move a motion of no confidence to remove the Prime Minister; his entire Cabinet (Ministers) or any individual Government Minister. The provision or section sets out the strict procedure or criteria to invoke these powers; which includes the grace period to which a motion of no confidence is prohibited (restricted), notice period required and number of MP’s needed to endorse or sign the notice of motion before Parliament can consider it. Before reporting the specific findings of the Supreme Court ruling I thought it appropriate to first provide some background context and history to help understand the i

by LUCAS KIAP IS PETER O’NEILL GOING TO DO BETTER THAN SIR MICHAEL SOMARE? Ten (10) years political stability under NA party and SIR MICHAEL SOMARE has resulted in the disappearance of billions of kina (from high commodity and mineral prices) without traces. Will political stability under PNC party and PETER O’NEILL look after the PNG LNG revenues well? Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill and his PNC party are becoming more powerful than ever in the political history of this small country as more and more MPs from other political are abandoning their parties to join the ruling party and others are lining themselves up for the PM to marry them into his ruling PNC party. Any possible chances of a successful vote of no confidence against the PM are now seem unlikely, at least for now. The movement of MPs from other political parties into the major ruling party is not happening for the first time in the history of this country. When the government of Sir Michael an

Somare back in as Prime Minister THE Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea is expected to issue contempt charges against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, with a triumphant Sir Michael Somare saying he will present himself to the governor-general and take the oath of office. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the election of Mr O'Neill to the prime ministership by a parliamentary vote of 70-24 on August 2 was unconstitutional and ordered Sir Michael resume the top job. In doing so, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia indicated contempt charges will be laid against Mr O'Neill and his lawyer following a last ditch application on Friday to remove the three-year veteran of the Supreme Court before he had handed down his judgment. The Supreme Court is also expected to hand down a contempt judgment on Mr O'Neill's deputy PM Belden Namah and attorney-general Dr Alan Marat, after the pair tried to suspend the chief justice in November. The three to two decision by the five-man

Somare back in as Prime Minister THE Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea is expected to issue contempt charges against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, with a triumphant Sir Michael Somare saying he will present himself to the governor-general and take the oath of office. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the election of Mr O'Neill to the prime ministership by a parliamentary vote of 70-24 on August 2 was unconstitutional and ordered Sir Michael resume the top job. In doing so, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia indicated contempt charges will be laid against Mr O'Neill and his lawyer following a last ditch application on Friday to remove the three-year veteran of the Supreme Court before he had handed down his judgment. The Supreme Court is also expected to hand down a contempt judgment on Mr O'Neill's deputy PM Belden Namah and attorney-general Dr Alan Marat, after the pair tried to suspend the chief justice in November. The three to two decision by the f

Removed as MP but is he back? The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea has given the O'Neill/Namah Government a major blow after it ruled this afternoon that the actions of the August the 2nd was unconstitutional and that there was no vacancy in the position of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. 3 out of 5 judges say there was no vacancy in PM's office and election of O'Neill was unconstitutional At this stage it is not sure what will happen to this government, whilst the court was in full bench ruling on the case, over at Parliament there was only one member of the opposition and the full government bench with the back-benchers debating the National Budget handed down last week. Reports are are sketchy at this stage but at this stage there is likely to be a show-down between the Judiciary and the Legislative brances of the government to interpret the ruling. In other developments, it was reported on overseas media that the Papua New Guinean government has passed a series of

Removed as MP but is he back? The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea has given the O'Neill/Namah Government a major blow after it ruled this afternoon that the actions of the August the 2nd was unconstitutional and that there was no vacancy in the position of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. 3 out of 5 judges say there was no vacancy in PM's office and election of O'Neill was unconstitutional At this stage it is not sure what will happen to this government, whilst the court was in full bench ruling on the case, over at Parliament there was only one member of the opposition and the full government bench with the back-benchers debating the National Budget handed down last week. Reports are are sketchy at this stage but at this stage there is likely to be a show-down between the Judiciary and the Legislative brances of the government to interpret the ruling. In other developments, it was reported on overseas media that the Papua New Guinean government has passed a ser

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has abrogated the National Alliance constitution to hand power over to his son. While the heat is on for Sir Michael to step aside and allow his deputy Don Polye to take over the top job, a ploy has also been engineered to dismantle the support of the National Alliance Highlands bloc for the latter. With the Minj national convention now deferred, concerns have been raised that Mr Polye is being marginalised while Sir Michael makes it conducive for his son to take over the top job. NA party president Simon Kaiwi has said the postponement was a result of recent political events and its implications on the party while Mr Polye reaffirmed his commitment to Sir Michael and the party yesterday. “As far as I know, the position of the NA leadership is filled and there is no vacancy. “The leader is currently Sir Michael and I totally support his leadership,” Mr Polye said. Cracks have emerged within the ruling party as late as the appointment of eight new minis

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has abrogated the National Alliance constitution to hand power over to his son. While the heat is on for Sir Michael to step aside and allow his deputy Don Polye to take over the top job, a ploy has also been engineered to dismantle the support of the National Alliance Highlands bloc for the latter. With the Minj national convention now deferred, concerns have been raised that Mr Polye is being marginalised while Sir Michael makes it conducive for his son to take over the top job. NA party president Simon Kaiwi has said the postponement was a result of recent political events and its implications on the party while Mr Polye reaffirmed his commitment to Sir Michael and the party yesterday. “As far as I know, the position of the NA leadership is filled and there is no vacancy. “The leader is currently Sir Michael and I totally support his leadership,” Mr Polye said. Cracks have emerged within the ruling party as late as the appointment of eight new minis