PNGBLOGS

Papua New Guinea's former Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has accused Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of disrespecting the constitution and intimidating the governor-general. Mr O'Neill has retained the leadership gaining the support of the governor-general and the majority of MPs in parliament. His position has been further strengthened by the passing of the budget. But Sir Michael insists he's still the rightful leader of PNG, in charge of a minority government. "I know very well, that there was no, either by speaker or by anyone to remove the member of parliament," he said. "I was discharged by parliament as a non-existing member. But court, in its wisdom, and following our constitution, reinstate me as the head of government and the government as I led". The Catholic Archbishop of Papua New Guinea is calling on the former prime minister to resign from politics and ensure there is no repeat of last week's political tension. Archbishop John

Papua New Guinea's former Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has accused Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of disrespecting the constitution and intimidating the governor-general. Mr O'Neill has retained the leadership gaining the support of the governor-general and the majority of MPs in parliament. His position has been further strengthened by the passing of the budget. But Sir Michael insists he's still the rightful leader of PNG, in charge of a minority government. "I know very well, that there was no, either by speaker or by anyone to remove the member of parliament," he said. "I was discharged by parliament as a non-existing member. But court, in its wisdom, and following our constitution, reinstate me as the head of government and the government as I led". The Catholic Archbishop of Papua New Guinea is calling on the former prime minister to resign from politics and ensure there is no repeat of last week's political tension. Archbisho

Parliament yesterday afternoon passed the 2012 National Budget of 10.5 billion Kina with members showing their support through voices and not a head count . Minister for Finance and Treasury Don Polye when speaking during the budget debate today, says the measure of any government in the world us measured by the well being of the people, and it’s vital that this historical budget be used to ensure opportunities are presented for more than 7 million people in Papua New Guinea in order to better their lives. Mr. Polye says the implementation of the budget is critical adding that the Government will start implementing major priorities in the budget like health, education, and transport infrastructure amongst others, and carrying out this task is the challenge of the O’Neill/Namah Government. When speaking on the Government free education policy next year for elementary right up to grade 10, Mr. Polye says education is the biggest investment thus far that the Governme

Parliament yesterday afternoon passed the 2012 National Budget of 10.5 billion Kina with members showing their support through voices and not a head count . Minister for Finance and Treasury Don Polye when speaking during the budget debate today, says the measure of any government in the world us measured by the well being of the people, and it’s vital that this historical budget be used to ensure opportunities are presented for more than 7 million people in Papua New Guinea in order to better their lives. Mr. Polye says the implementation of the budget is critical adding that the Government will start implementing major priorities in the budget like health, education, and transport infrastructure amongst others, and carrying out this task is the challenge of the O’Neill/Namah Government. When speaking on the Government free education policy next year for elementary right up to grade 10, Mr. Polye says education is the biggest investment thus far that the Gov

FOR the past few days I have been working in Papua New Guinea, a country where I lived for more than a decade, in an earlier era. That past was another country. They did things differently there, as many Papua New Guinean friends from that time have kept reminding me this week. They did some things differently, but not everything of course. So much has changed, so much not. The constants include positives such as the sunny nature and good humour of Papua New Guineans. But that also includes their frustration at the failure of government services, at the astonishing gap between the cost of housing and their wages even many managers and skilled workers have no choice but to live in teeming squatter settlements and at the tales of vast sums of money that seem to flow past, tantalisingly just out of reach. The dominant focus is on the distribution rather than the creation of wealth. The creation is widely assumed to come from the resource game. As the quantums there have stepped u

FOR the past few days I have been working in Papua New Guinea, a country where I lived for more than a decade, in an earlier era. That past was another country. They did things differently there, as many Papua New Guinean friends from that time have kept reminding me this week. They did some things differently, but not everything of course. So much has changed, so much not. The constants include positives such as the sunny nature and good humour of Papua New Guineans. But that also includes their frustration at the failure of government services, at the astonishing gap between the cost of housing and their wages even many managers and skilled workers have no choice but to live in teeming squatter settlements and at the tales of vast sums of money that seem to flow past, tantalisingly just out of reach. The dominant focus is on the distribution rather than the creation of wealth. The creation is widely assumed to come from the resource game. As the quantums there have

Constitution is supreme:Somare MICHAEL Somare's attempts to assert he is Papua New Guinea's lawful prime minister are understandable, but after 43 years in the political rough and tumble he's being disingenuous in seeking to ignore the way the cards have fallen in his confrontation with Peter O'Neill. With parliament solidly behind Mr O'Neill, and Governor-General Michael Ogio reversing his position and formally declaring Mr O'Neill the rightful prime minister, Sir Michael's campaign for reinstatement has clearly run out of steam. The sooner he accepts this, the sooner political stability will return to PNG. Correctly, Mr ONeill has observed parliament is the place where politicians win the right to form governments. Sir Michael argues, however, that he has the force of constitutional law on his side following the Supreme Court's 3-2 decision that he was wrongly removed. But in addition to parliament and the Governor-General, all top public servants as w