PNGBLOGS

Jonathan Pearlman Papua New Guinea's veteran leader and "father of independence", Sir Michael Somare, has resigned as prime minister because of poor health. Sir Michael, 75, was leader when his nation gained independence from Australia in 1975 and has led for a total of more than 16 years. The so-called Grand Chief of PNG politics has been prime minister three times and began his final term in 2002. He is recovering from heart surgery in Singapore earlier this year. Arthur Somare, the leader's son, announced the resignation at a press conference in Port Moresby. "It is our wish that Sir Michael will now pursue a life in retirement after nearly 50 years of active politics due to medical reasons and the uncertainty of the recovery period," he said. "We believe PNG should have a level of certainty with regard to political stability and leadership well into the future." Sir Michael, who oversaw the transition to independence, has had a profound impact

Jonathan Pearlman Papua New Guinea's veteran leader and "father of independence", Sir Michael Somare, has resigned as prime minister because of poor health. Sir Michael, 75, was leader when his nation gained independence from Australia in 1975 and has led for a total of more than 16 years. The so-called Grand Chief of PNG politics has been prime minister three times and began his final term in 2002. He is recovering from heart surgery in Singapore earlier this year. Arthur Somare, the leader's son, announced the resignation at a press conference in Port Moresby. "It is our wish that Sir Michael will now pursue a life in retirement after nearly 50 years of active politics due to medical reasons and the uncertainty of the recovery period," he said. "We believe PNG should have a level of certainty with regard to political stability and leadership well into the future." Sir Michael, who oversaw the transition to independence, has had a profound i

AFP A large green tree-dwelling frog, was among 1000 new spieces found in PNG (AFP/WWF/File) A frog with fangs, a blind snake and a round-headed dolphin are among more than 1,000 new species recently found on the incredible Melanesian island of New Guinea, environment group WWF said. Scientists made the astounding discoveries, which also included a river shark and dozens of butterflies, on New Guinea at a rate of two a week from 1998 to 2008, WWF said in a new report on the island's natural habitat. "This report shows that New Guinea's forests and rivers are among the richest and most biodiverse in the world," said WWF's Western Melanesia programme representative, Neil Stronach. New Guinea -- divided between the Indonesian province of Papua in the west and Papua New Guinea to the east -- has one of the world's least spoilt and most stunning ecosystems. Its rainforests are the third biggest in the world after the Amazon and the Congo, and, while the island c

AFP A large green tree-dwelling frog, was among 1000 new spieces found in PNG (AFP/WWF/File) A frog with fangs, a blind snake and a round-headed dolphin are among more than 1,000 new species recently found on the incredible Melanesian island of New Guinea, environment group WWF said. Scientists made the astounding discoveries, which also included a river shark and dozens of butterflies, on New Guinea at a rate of two a week from 1998 to 2008, WWF said in a new report on the island's natural habitat. "This report shows that New Guinea's forests and rivers are among the richest and most biodiverse in the world," said WWF's Western Melanesia programme representative, Neil Stronach. New Guinea -- divided between the Indonesian province of Papua in the west and Papua New Guinea to the east -- has one of the world's least spoilt and most stunning ecosystems. Its rainforests are the third biggest in the world after the Amazon and the Congo, and, while t

Brian Thomson PAPUA New Guinea's Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, has accused Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) of being behind the PNG military's bloody suppression of Bougainville rebels opposed to the company's Panguna copper mine. An affidavit written by Sir Michael when he was Opposition Leader in 2001 - and never made public - alleges that Rio played an active role in military operations that ultimately led to a civil war and blockade of the island in which 15,000 people died between 1989 and 1997. ''Because of Rio Tinto's financial influence in PNG, the company controlled the government,'' Mr Somare's affidavit states. Advertisement: Story continues below ''The government of PNG followed Rio Tinto's instructions and carried out its requests … BCL was directly involved in the military operations on Bougainville, and it played an active role. BCL supplied helicopters, which were

Brian Thomson PAPUA New Guinea's Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, has accused Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) of being behind the PNG military's bloody suppression of Bougainville rebels opposed to the company's Panguna copper mine. An affidavit written by Sir Michael when he was Opposition Leader in 2001 - and never made public - alleges that Rio played an active role in military operations that ultimately led to a civil war and blockade of the island in which 15,000 people died between 1989 and 1997. ''Because of Rio Tinto's financial influence in PNG, the company controlled the government,'' Mr Somare's affidavit states. Advertisement: Story continues below ''The government of PNG followed Rio Tinto's instructions and carried out its requests … BCL was directly involved in the military operations on Bougainville, and it played an active role. BCL supplied helicopters, which

West Enga Republic The country is now at a cross-road, a cross-road to a prosperous future or a path that will lead to the inhalation of this promising country. In the weeks ahead we will see what the leadership of Sam Abal is made of. We know clearly that Sir Michael Somare is not coming back to take charge of the leadership. Sam Abal has been thrown no life line as he has been made just like Daniel thrown into the lions den. He has a battle looming on four fronts, first he has to deal with the fact that his own party sacked him after his actions to terminate the services of Don Polye and William Duma, if that is not enough, URP a party that has backed National Alliance for the last 8 years is now cracked with leadership of the party undecided if they want to stay as a partner in this government. Thirdly he has an issue with Peter O'Niel's PNC party. It stems from the removal of PNC's Finance portfolio to Patrick Pruaitch, will this also be a sticking point come the next e

West Enga Republic The country is now at a cross-road, a cross-road to a prosperous future or a path that will lead to the inhalation of this promising country. In the weeks ahead we will see what the leadership of Sam Abal is made of. We know clearly that Sir Michael Somare is not coming back to take charge of the leadership. Sam Abal has been thrown no life line as he has been made just like Daniel thrown into the lions den. He has a battle looming on four fronts, first he has to deal with the fact that his own party sacked him after his actions to terminate the services of Don Polye and William Duma, if that is not enough, URP a party that has backed National Alliance for the last 8 years is now cracked with leadership of the party undecided if they want to stay as a partner in this government. Thirdly he has an issue with Peter O'Niel's PNC party. It stems from the removal of PNC's Finance portfolio to Patrick Pruaitch, will this also be a sticking point come the nex

SAM BASIL MP IF the acting Prime Minister does not know crime has been knocking on the government’s doorstep all along. Now, that fight has come right into his very own family home. Since the Prime Minister has sacked two other Ministers, it is now proper that he must wield the same wand to the Internal Security Minister. Mark Maipakai has to go. Acting Prime Minister, do you have the guts to sack Minister Mark Maipakai? You must. It is not a question of hypothesis. We want the acting Prime Minister to wear the shoes of every innocent Papua New Guinean and feel what it is like to lose a close relative to the hands of heinous Papua New Guineans against other Papua New Guineans day in, day out. The acting Prime Minister can now feel the raw nerves of so very ordinary Papua New Guineans whose lives have been turned upside down by crime. Given that his own son is the subject of police investigations in this gruesome murder, the acting Prime Minister has to offer an honest explanation to th