National Parliament of Papua New Guinea | |
---|---|
11th Parliament | |
Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | 5 years |
History | |
Founded | 1964 |
Leadership | |
Job Pomat since 2 August 2017 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 118 (96 open electorates and 22 provincial electorates) |
Political groups | Government (102) [2]
Opposition (13)
Other (3)
|
Political groups | 5 |
Elections | |
Limited instant-runoff voting | |
Last election | 9 – 22 July 2022 |
Next election | 2027 |
Meeting place | |
National Parliament House, Port Moresby | |
Website | |
www |
New Guineaportal |
The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence in 1975.
The 111 members of parliament serve five-year terms, 89 of whom are chosen from single-member "open" electorates, which are sometimes referred to as "seats" but are officially known as constituencies. The remaining 22 are chosen from single-member provincial electorates: the 20 provinces, the autonomous province of Bougainville, and the National Capital District. Each provincial member becomes governor of their province unless they take a ministerial position, in which case the governorship passes to an open member of the province. [4]
From 1964 until 1977 an Optional Preferential Voting System was used.[ citation needed ] The first past the post system was used from 1977 until 2002. Electoral reforms introduced by former Prime Minister Mekere Morauta introduced Limited Preferential Voting, in which voters numbered three preferred candidates. LPV was first used nationally in the 2007 election. [5]
The prime minister of Papua New Guinea is elected by members of parliament in accordance with section 142 of the national constitution, before being formally appointed by the governor-general of Papua New Guinea. All other government ministers – who form the National Executive Council and act as the country's cabinet – are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. Each government minister must be a member of parliament and section 141 of the constitution provides for the executive to be responsible to the legislature as the representative of the people of Papua New Guinea. [6]
Papua New Guinea has a fractious political culture, and no party in the history of parliament has yet won a majority. [4] Therefore, negotiations between parties have always been necessary to form governments. New governments are protected from votes of no confidence during their first 18 months and during the last 12 months before a national election. More recently, in a move aimed at further minimizing no-confidence motions, then-Prime Minister Mekere Morauta introduced changes that prevented members of the government from voting in favour of such a motion.[ citation needed ]
All citizens over the age of 18 may vote, although voting is not compulsory. [7]
The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic multi-party system, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Papua New Guinea is an independent Commonwealth realm, with the monarch serving as head of state and a governor-general, nominated by the National Parliament, serving as their representative. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
Sir Julius Chan is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the current Governor of New Ireland Province, since 2007. On 26 May 2019, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced he would soon resign and that he wished for Sir Julius to succeed him. An outgoing Prime Minister does not, however, have the power to appoint his successor, and the following day O'Neill delayed his own formal resignation. He was also a leading figure in his country during the years-long Bougainville conflict.
The People's Democratic Movement is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
Paias Wingti is a Papua New Guinean politician. He served as the third prime minister of Papua New Guinea between 1985 and 1988, and again from 1992 to 1994.
Papua New Guinea elects on the national level a legislature. The National Parliament has 111 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. Papua New Guinea has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. The first-past-the-post voting system was previously used, but in 2002 the limited instant-runoff voting system was enacted into law and first used during the 2007 national election and 2008 local elections.
Sir Mekere Morauta was a Papua New Guinean politician and economist who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1999 to 2002. Inheriting a depressed economy and a fractious legislature, he embarked on fundamental reforms of the country's economy and political system.
Puri Ruing is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 1997 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2012, representing the electorate of Dei Open. He served as Minister of Justice under Mekere Morauta, Minister for Internal Security under Michael Somare and Minister for Civil Aviation under Peter O'Neill.
James Marape is a Papua New Guinean politician who has served as the prime minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the electorate of Tari-Pori Open in Hela Province in the New Guinea Highlands. He has held Cabinet Posts as Minister of Education (2008–2011), Minister of Finance (2012–2019), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2023–2024). Marape entered the 2022 elections under the banner of the Pangu Party and won the most seats, while still being far from a majority. He was therefore able to form government, which was elected unopposed by the new parliament.
The New Generation Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
Sir Arnold Karibone Amet is a Papua New Guinean former politician and judge. In 1971 he married Miaru Feareka, and they have five (5) children: Sarah, born 22 February 1972; Arnold Jr, born 21 November 1974; Miriam, born 26 May 1976; Sova, born 12 July 1981; Giok, born 15 May 1986. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2007 to 2012, representing the Madang Provincial seat. He was Minister of Justice and Attorney-General from 2010 to 2011. Prior to entering politics, he was Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea. In February 2021 he was nominated as the Allegiance Party candidate for the seat of Moresby North West District but was unsuccessful in securing the seat. He was awarded Knight Bachelor for service to the judiciary, law and justice in 1993.
Peter Charles Paire O'Neill is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pangia since 2002. He was a former cabinet minister and the leader of the People's National Congress between 2006 and 2022. He resigned his position as prime minister to avoid a vote of no confidence, and he was succeeded by James Marape.
Belden Namah is a Papua New Guinean politician. Namah is a member of the National Parliament for the Papua New Guinea Party, and has represented Vanimo-Green River District since 2007. He served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010, and as Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, Namah became a member of the opposition. After retaining his seat in the 2022 election, he said that he would not rejoin the opposition.
2011–2012 Papua New Guinean constitutional crisis was a dispute between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill. Both claimed to be Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
General elections were held in Papua New Guinea from 23 June until around 13 July 2012, after being postponed by a further week to allow for security personnel to crisscross the country, particularly the highland provinces. The elections followed controversy over incomplete electoral rolls and a constitutional crisis caused by a dispute over the office of prime minister between Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill.
Charlie Benjamin is a Papua New Guinean politician. He has been Governor of Manus Province since 2012, and was formerly the member for Manus Open in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 1997 to 2007. He was Vice-Minister for Public Enterprises under Bill Skate (1998–1999) and Minister for Labour and Employment (2000–2001) and Minister for Lands and Physical Planning (2001–2002) under Mekere Morauta. As governor from 2012, he has featured prominently in issues relating to the Australian-run Manus Regional Processing Centre. Benjamin has variously been an independent (1997–1999) and a member of the Advance Papua New Guinea Party, People's Democratic Movement (2001) and People's National Congress (2003–present).
Bartholomew "Bart" Philemon is a Papua New Guinean politician.
The Right Honourable Chief Sir Peter Ipatas, KBE, GCL, MP is a Papua New Guinean politician and businessman, and is the current governor of Enga province. Ipatas has been re-elected to the parliament for six consecutive terms since 1997. He is commonly known throughout the country as the "Action Governor". Chief Ipatas is also known as the Father of Free Education Policy in the country. He first assumed office in 1997.
Francis Awesa is a Papua New Guinean politician. A former Premier of the Southern Highlands under the old provincial government system, he was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2007 to 2017, representing the electorate of Imbonggu Open. A Papua New Guinea Party member in his first term, he subsequently switched to the People's National Congress after PNC leader Peter O'Neill became Prime Minister in 2011. He was Minister for Transport, Works and Civil Aviation (2011), Minister for Transport and Works (2011-2012) and Minister for Works and Implementation (2012-2017) in the government of Peter O'Neill.
Ron Ganinbo Ganarafo is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 1997 to 2002 and from 2012 to 2017, both times representing the electorate of Daulo Open. He was Vice-Minister for Finance (1997) and Vice-Minister for Overseas Development Assistance (1997–1998) in the Skate government and Minister for Fisheries (1999–2002) in the Morauta government.
General elections were held in Papua New Guinea from 4 to 22 July 2022 to elect the members of the National Parliament for a new five-year term.