Papua New Guinea prime minister retains power at election
Aug 9, 2022
Papua New Guinea’s Parliament has returned Prime Minister James Marape to power following elections in the South Pacific Island nation
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Papua New Guinea’s Parliament returned Prime Minister James Marape to power Tuesday following elections in the South Pacific Island nation.
He was nominated unopposed to lead the next coalition government at the first sitting of Parliament since the election, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported from the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby.
Parliament resumed despite the election outcome being declared for only 104 of 118 seats by Tuesday. Counting continues in the remainder.
Marape’s Pangu Party holds 36 of those seats, 20 more than the next most successful party.
All 97 lawmakers who attended Parliament supported Marape's nomination as prime minister, the Business Advantage PNG website reported.
Papua New Guinea has typically been governed by unstable, multi-party coalitions, but the country's constitution won't allow a no-confidence motion to bring down Marape for another 18 months.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse tribal society of 9 million people who are mostly subsistence farmers and speak more than 800 languages.
The leading contenders to lead the new government had been Marape and his predecessor who resigned in 2019, Peter O’Neill.
Since independence from Australia in 1975, Papua New Guinea has held elections marred by violence, fraud and bribery. Police at the outset of voting July 4 urged citizens not to sell their votes to any candidate and fights have broken out over allegations of vote-fixing.
Marape apologized last month to thousands of people who have been turned away from polling stations because of problems with the electoral roll.
More News
‘I don’t care’: Inside Jensen Huang’s last hours as Nvidia CEO
At the end, Jensen Huang looked broken and shattered, his legendary energy depleted.
I worked part-time at David Jones. I know exactly why the business failed
Lift operators, bra fitters and lying sales assistants – I mourn you all.
How Elon Musk drove the Cybertruck and Tesla’s ambitions off a cliff
Elon Musk’s passion project crashed and burned. Its demise carries a lot of weight,
M.J. Bale axed its retail boss while she was on maternity leave. Now she’s fighting back
The Australian menswear retailer made its high-flying retail boss redundant days before her scheduled return from parental leave.
‘Either brave or mad’: A bastion of fine dining gets a sorely needed facelift
Rob and Tammy Charter had other ideas about how they wanted to spend post-work life. Like buying a heritage pub.
This Qantas jet was hit by lightning. It’s still grounded two weeks later
Pictures show the damage left by a lightning bolt, with charred areas of the skin and mesh exposed, on a plane that arrived in Melbourne from Los Angeles last month.
There has never been another scandal like this
Here’s a look at some of the most famous corporate scandals in history. Jensen Huang is really in a league of his own.
Hall of shame: Jensen Huang joins the list of CEOs brought down by affairs
The “close personal relationship” has been the downfall of a number of chief executives over the years.
Australian shares limp across the line to end week higher
The sharemarket has risen for six of the past seven weeks despite a weak finish in the final session.
Right Resources puts tungsten twist on historic NSW goldfields
Right Resources is chasing a gold and tungsten double in NSW’s historic Tumbarumba goldfields, armed with promising assays, early metallurgy and modern exploration.
The superchip genius or the big name wildcard? Eight contenders to replace Huang as Nvidia’s CEO
Nvidia chief Jensen Huang has resigned from the chipmaker he co-founded after reports of extramarital affairs made the spotlight.
Australian Gold and Copper lands NSW multi-metal bonanza
Australian Gold and Copper has struck rich polymetallic mineralisation at Evergreen in NSW, hitting 16m at 2.3g/t gold and 1.4% copper, including a 6.2% copper kicker.