SOMARE SEEKING TO BLOCK LEADERSHIP TRIBUNAL

AAP

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare hopes a last minute court challenge can stop a leadership tribunal probing allegations he failed to lodge yearly financial statements.
Sir Michael, 74, who has been PNG's prime minister four times in a political career spanning more than 40 years, is due to face a three-member bench on Thursday, where charges dating back 20 years will be heard.
This week, Sir Michael's lawyers filed a new Supreme Court challenge against the tribunal's proceedings, claiming the original Ombudsman Commission investigation into the prime minister was biased and had protocol and procedural flaws.

Sir Michael's lawyers lodged the submission in an effort to either delay or derail the tribunal in what a senior legal source told AAP was "a very PNG situation", with the two proceedings running concurrently.

Since 2008, Sir Michael has used the courts to fight the Ombudsman Commission - PNG's corruption watchdog - but his efforts faltered late last year when public prosecutor Jim Tamate successfully launched the case.

On December 13, Sir Michael failed to secure a court injunction against the tribunal being established because his lawyers could not find a judge to hear their case.

At the time, Sir Michael described the court debacle as a gross injustice and announced he had voluntarily stood aside to face the tribunal.

But in January, with the tribunal still not established, Sir Michael returned to the top job claiming he had been on a five-week holiday.

The prime minister's office later changed its story again, saying poor legal advice led to the mix up.

On February 22, PNG's Chief Justice Sir Salamo Inja announced former Australian Federal Court judge Roger Gyles would chair the three-man tribunal hearing the misconduct allegations.

Justice Gyles will sit alongside Sir Bruce Robertson from New Zealand and Sir Robin Auld from the United Kingdom.

Thepolitically-charged case is expected to run for six weeks at a cost of more than 1 million kina ($A360,000) and could lead to more serious charges linked to financial earnings.

But Sir Michael is famous for being a wily political player. Last year, the prime minister out-manoeuvred several attempts by the opposition to overthrow the government via a vote of no-confidence.

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