Prime Minister
Prime Minister Michael Somare lost a motion of no confidence on 21 November 1985,and Wingti was selected to succeed him. He was the first person from the New Guinea Highlands to serve as prime minister. Wingti maintained his majority in the 1987 election and defeated Somare to become prime minister by a vote of 54 to 51.
Ted Diro,one of the key members of Wingti's coalition and and leader of the People's Action Party,resigned in November 1987,after being charged with five counts of perjury during an investigation which determined he made millions in illegal forestry dealings while serving as Minister of Forestry. Diro attempted to regain an office in Wingti's cabinet,but Wingti refused.
On 11 April 1988,Diro requested to be appointed as deputy prime minister who else PAP would join the opposition. A new session of parliament opened that day,but was dismissed after two-and-a-half hours to prevent a motion of no confidence from being brought up. Diro was given a position in the cabinet,but other members of the coalition were opposed to this. A motion of no confidence while filed when parliament reconvened on 27 June. Diro switched his support from Wingti to Rabbie Namaliu. Wingti's government lost a motion of no confidence by a 58 to 50 vote on 4 July, and a coalition government was formed by Namaliu.
Elections were called for 1992. On 17 July,Wingti defeated Namaliu to be elected prime minister by a vote of 55 to 54,with the Speaker casting the deciding vote.
Wingti was concerned of facing a leadership challenge from Deputy Prime Minister Julius Chan in 1993. He secretly resigned in September,and was reelected by parliament the next day. This meant that he would be constitutionally protected from a motion of no confidence for 18 months. The opposition filed a lawsuit against this and the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled on 25 August 1994,that Wingti's resignation was valid,but that his reelection was invalid as parliament was not properly informed of his resignation. On 30 August,Chan was elected prime minister by a vote of 70 to 32.
Later career
Robert Lak,a Catholic priest,defeated Wingti in the 1997 election,but Wingti regained his seat in the 2002 election. Tom Olga,an independent candidate,defeated Wingti in the 2007 election.
Wingti led 14 MPs in a vote to remove Mekere Morauta as opposition leader in 2004,and replaced him with Andrew Baing. In 2004,a motion of no confidence put up Wingti as an alternate prime minister,but Wingti stepped down in favour of Peter O'Neill,who was more popular.
