Politics of Papua New Guinea

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Papua New Guinea

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Papua New Guinea

Queen Elizabeth II Governor-General Paulias Matane Prime Minister Michael Somare National Parliament Political parties Elections: 2007 Supreme Court Provinces Foreign relations

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Politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy within the Commonwealth, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Papua New Guinea is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Contents 1 Executive branch 2 Legislative branch 3 Political parties and elections 4 Judicial branch 5 Provincial government 5.1 North Solomons (Bougainville) 6 Instability 7 International organization participation 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Executive branch

As Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, styled Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Papua New Guinea and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, or simply Queen of Papua New Guinea, is represented in Papua New Guinea by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The Governor-General of Papua New Guinea is elected by parliament. The governments of Papua New Guinea are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. The prime minister, elected by Parliament, chooses the other members of the cabinet. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, a career public servant, who directs the staff of the ministry. The cabinet consists members, including the Prime Minister and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to parliament. The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom serves as the highest appellate court.

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
Queen	Elizabeth II		6 February 1952
Governor-General	Paulias Matane		29 June 2004
Prime Minister	Michael Somare	NAP	2002

[edit] Legislative branch

Main article: National Parliament of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has a unicameral National Parliament, previously known as the House of Assembly. It has 109 seats, with 89 elected from open electorates and 20 from provincial electorates. Members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. The last election was held in June 2002, with the next election due in June 2007. Members of Parliament are elected from 19 provinces and the national capital district of Port Moresby. Since independence in 1975, members have been elected by the first past the post system, with winners frequently gaining less than 15% of the vote. Electoral reforms in 2001 introduced the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a modified version of Alternative vote. The first general election to use LPV will be held in 2007.

Parliament introduced reforms in June 1995 to change the provincial government system, with regional (at-large) members of Parliament becoming provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in Parliament.

[edit] Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Papua New Guinea. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Papua New Guinea.

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 15-29 June 2002 National Parliament of Papua New Guinea election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
National Alliance Party		.	19
People's Democratic Movement		.	13
People's Progress Party		.	8
Papua and Niugini Union Pati		.	6
People's Action Party		.	5
People's Labour Party		.	4
Christian Democratic Party		.	3
Melanesian Alliance Party		.	3
Papua New Guinea National Party		.	3
United Party		.	3
Nation Transformation Party		.	2
Pan Melanesian Congress Party		.	2
People's National Congress Party		.	2
Pipol First Party		.	2
Rural Pipol's Pati		.	2
"Parties" electing 1 MP each		.	9
Self-described Independents		.	17
Vacant pending by-elections		.	6
Total (turnout %)			109'
Source: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Adam Carr says about the party system: Papua New Guinea has no real party system and most Members of Parliament function as independents, although they give themselves various party labels. This tendency is reinforced by the electoral system, which combines first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies with large numbers of candidacies, making election to the House largely a matter of chance.

[edit] Judicial branch

Main article: Law of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's judiciary is independent of the government. It protects constitutional rights and interprets the laws. There are several levels, culminating in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea.

There is a Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea -- actually not separately constituted but an appellate Full Court of the National Court -- whose Chief Justice, also the Chief Justice of the National Court, is appointed by the Governor General on the proposal of the National Executive Council after consultation with the Minister responsible for justice. Other justices of the National Court, who are available to sit as members of ad hoc benches of the Supreme Court, are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.

[edit] Provincial government

Main article: Provinces of Papua New Guinea

Reforms in June 1995 changed the provincial government system. Regional (at-large) members of Parliament became provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in Parliament.

Papua New Guinea is divided into nineteen provinces and the National Capital District, Papua New Guinea.

	Province	Capital	Area (km2)	Population
1	Central	Port Moresby	29,500	161,447
2	Simbu (Chimbu)	Kundiawa	6,100	187,809
3	Eastern Highlands	Goroka	11,200	316,802
4	East New Britain	Rabaul	15,500	235,712
5	East Sepik	Wewak	42,800	280,340
6	Enga	Webag	12,800	279,046
7	Gulf	Kerema	34,500	72,794
8	Madang	Madang	29,000	288,317
9	Manus	Lorengau	2,100	38,697
10	Milne Bay	Alotau	14,000	185,000
11	Morobe	Lae	34,500	439,725
12	New Ireland	Kavieng	9,600	105,893
13	Oro (Northern)	Popondetta	22,800	112,985
14	North Solomons (Bougainville)	Arawa	9,300	178,262
15	Southern Highlands	Mendi	23,800	390,240
16	Western	Daru	99,300	126,411
17	Western Highlands	Mount Hagen	8,500	398,376
18	West New Britain	Kimbe	21,000	170,485
19	Sandaun (West Sepik)	Vanimo	36,300	160,349
20	National Capital District	Port Moresby	240	271,813

[edit] North Solomons (Bougainville)

On Bougainville Island, initially focused on traditional land rights, environmental and economic issues stemming from the operation of the Panguna mine, (a Conzinc RioTinto Australia (now Rio Tinto Limited) and PNG government joint venture), a civil war quickly grew into a war for independence from PNG.

From early 1989 until a truce came into effect in October 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998 as many as 20,000 people were killed. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a United Nations observer mission, the government and provincial leaders have established an interim government and are working toward election of a provincial government and a referendum on independence.

The people of Bougainville are closely related to those of the nearby Solomon Islands.

[edit] Instability

The Morauta government brought in a series of electoral reforms in 2001, designed to address instability and corruption. Among the reforms was the introduction of the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a modified version of Alternative vote, for future elections in PNG. (The introduction of LPV was partly in response to calls for changes in the voting system by Transparency International and the European Union.) The first general election to use LPV will be held in 2007.

There are many parties, but party allegiances are weak. Winning candidates are usually courted in efforts to forge the majority needed to form a government, and allegiances are fluid. No single party has yet won enough seats to form a government in its own right.

Papua New Guinea has a history of changes in government coalitions and leadership from within Parliament during the 5-year intervals between national elections. New governments are protected by law from votes of no confidence for the first 18 months of their incumbency, and no votes of no confidence may be moved in the 12 months preceding a national election.

On Bougainville Island, a rebellion occurred from early 1989 until a truce came into effect in October 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a United Nations observer mission, the government and provincial leaders have established an interim government and are working toward election of a provincial government and a referendum on independence.

The last national election was held in June 2002. Michael Somare was elected Prime Minister, a position he also held in the country's first parliament after independence. Supplementary elections were held in Southern Highlands province in June 2003 after record levels of electoral fraud and intimidation during the 2002 polls.

A study published in December 2004 found that PNG's weak government and policing has allowed organized crime gangs to relocate from Southeast Asia in recent years.

[edit] International organization participation

ACP, APEC, AsDB, ASEAN (observer), C, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, IFRCS, IMO, ICRM, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW, SPF, Sparteca, SPC, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UN, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

[edit] References

• Chin, James. 2005. Papua New Guinea in 2004: Recolonization, Somare"s Staying Power, and a Slight Economic Recovery, Asian Survey, Vol 45, No 1, 2005. pp 191-195

[edit] External links

• Papua New Guinea 'set to implode'