Rufina Peter | |
---|---|
Governor of Central Province | |
Assumed office August 2022 | |
Preceded by | Robert Agarobe |
Member of the National Parliament | |
Assumed office August 2022 | |
Preceded by | Robert Agarobe |
Constituency | Central Province Regional |
Personal details | |
Born | Goilala District,Territory of Papua |
Political party | PNC |
Education | Master of Economics (Agricultural economics) |
Alma mater | Papua New Guinea University of Technology;University of New England (Australia) |
Profession | Economist |
Rufina Peter is a Papua New Guinean agricultural economist and politician. Until her election to the National Parliament on 5 August 2022,Papua New Guinea (PNG) was one of only three countries without a woman in parliament. [1] She was also elected as Governor of Central Province in the 2022 general election,becoming the province's first female governor. [2] [3] [4] [5]
One of eight children,Peter attended a Catholic school in Tapini in the hilly,northwestern part of Central Province. Her father did not earn enough to support four children in high school and she had to work while at school to help pay for the fees. [3] She obtained an undergraduate degree in agriculture from the Papua New Guinea University of Technology in Lae between 1985 and 1988 and a master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of New England,in Armidale,New South Wales,between 1990 and 1992. She was a participant in the 2013–2014 Australian Rural Leadership Program. [6] [7]
Peter's first job was as an economist with the PNG Cocoa Board. She then became a first assistant secretary at the government's Department of Agriculture and Livestock,before moving to the Institute of National Affairs where,among other activities,she supported the PNG Women in Agriculture Development Foundation. After a spell at the Department of Provincial &Local Government Affairs,she joined the Bank of Papua New Guinea in 2017. [6] [7]
Peter contested her first political campaign in the 2017 Papua New Guinean general election,although her bid was unsuccessful. Nonetheless,she received the most votes of any female candidate in the country. At the time,she attributed the lack of success of women in PNG politics to the commonly held perception that politics is a male-dominated field,and that women are not suited to be political leaders. Peter observed that the existing political climate promotes corrupt practices and that candidates do not have sufficient resources to campaign effectively. She also noted that tribal leaders play a significant role in the decision-making of voters,and since most of them are male,this is an additional challenge for female candidates. [8] [9]
In the 2022 general election,Peter was one of 167 women running for the 118 seats,compared to 3,458 men. She emerged victorious in the Central Province seat,becoming both the governor of the province and a member of parliament. Papua New Guinea employs a preferential voting system,and after all votes had been tallied,she had defeated her rival,the incumbent Robert Agarobe,with 62,361 votes to 58,917. Peter ran as a member of the People's National Congress Party. [2] [10] [11] [12] [13] Before her election,Papua New Guinea was one of only three countries worldwide without a female parliamentarian. [1] Four days later,Kessy Sawang was also elected,further increasing the number of women in the National Parliament. [14]
Other women elected to the Papua New Guinea parliament: [10]
Papua New Guinea,officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea,is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia. It shares its only land border with Indonesia to the west and its other close neighbors are Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital,located on its southern coast,is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest island country,with an area of 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi).
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.
The People's Democratic Movement is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
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.
The People's First Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
Dame Carol Anne Kidu,also known as Carol,Lady Kidu,is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician.
The People's Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
Nahau Rooney,CSM was a Papua New Guinean politician. From 1977 to 1987 she was a member of the newly founded post-independence National Parliament 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.
General elections were held in Papua New Guinea between 24 June and 8 July 2017. The writs for the election were issued on 20 April,and candidate nominations closed on 27 April.
There have been 10 women in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975.
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.
James Gau Gelak is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2010 to 2017,representing the electorate of Rai Coast Open for the National Alliance Party (2010-2012) and Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party (2012-2017). He was also Governor of Madang Province from January 2011 until the 2012 election.
Julie Soso Akeke is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was the Governor of Eastern Highlands Province from 2012 to 2017.
Robert Agarobe is a Papua New Guinea businessman and politician. He was the Governor of Central Province and a Member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea,but was unseated by Rufina Peter in the 2022 Papua New Guinean general election.
Yolande Geraldine Paul is the Minister of Primary Industries and Marine Resources for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
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.
Job Pomat CMG is a Papua New Guinean politician. He has represented the electorate of Manus Open in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea on two separate occasions since 2007 and has been Speaker of the National Parliament since 2017.
Kessy Sawang is a Papua New Guinean politician and former senior civil servant. Until her election and that of Rufina Peter to the National Parliament in August 2022,Papua New Guinea (PNG) had been one of only three countries without a woman in parliament.
Events in the year 2022 in Papua New Guinea.