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. Its capital, located along its southeastern 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 governor-general of Papua New Guinea is the vice-regal representative of the Papua New Guinean monarch, currently Charles III, in Papua New Guinea. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch after their nomination by the National Parliament by vote, although the monarch is not bound to accept that nomination for appointment. The functions of the governor-general include appointing ministers, judges, and ambassadors; giving royal assent to legislation passed by parliament; and issuing writs for election.
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 monarchy of Papua New Guinea is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Papua New Guinea. The current monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled the King of Papua New Guinea and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Papua New Guinean state. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. The monarch lives predominantly in the United Kingdom and, while several powers are the sovereign's alone, most of the royal governmental and ceremonial duties in Papua New Guinea are carried out by the monarch's representative, the governor-general.
Kiaps, known formally as district officers and patrol officers, were travelling representatives of the British and Australian governments with wide-ranging authority, in pre-independence Papua New Guinea.
Sir Barry Blyth Holloway, KBE was an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician.
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.
Sir Bob Bofeng Dadae is a Papua New Guinean politician who serves as the tenth and current Governor-General of Papua New Guinea. He assumed office as the tenth governor-general on 28 February 2017, succeeding Michael Ogio.
Enny Moaitz is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was Premier of Morobe Province from 1987 to 1988, becoming Papua New Guinea's first and only woman Premier under their former system of decentralised provincial government. She was also a member of the Tutumang, the provincial assembly, from 1980 to 1991.
India and Papua New Guinea established diplomatic relations in 1975. Papua New Guinea has a High Commission in New Delhi, whilst India operates a High Commission in Port Moresby.
Euripides L. Evriviades is a Cypriot former diplomat who served as High Commissioner of Cyprus to the UK, accredited to the Court of St. James's and Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). He chaired the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat, having previously chaired its Executive Committee. He was born in Larnaca, Cyprus and is married to Anastasia Iacovidou-Evriviades, an attorney-at-law.
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.
The Gang of Four in Papua New Guinea (PNG) were four influential young public servants who played an important role in the planning and development of the country immediately after the country's independence from Australia in 1975.
Sir Joseph Nombri was a politician, administrator and diplomat in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He played an important role in events leading up to PNG's independence in 1975 and later became the country's ambassador in Tokyo.
David Manning is the Commissioner of Police in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Since early 2020 he has also been designated as the country's Pandemic Controller in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sir Ebia Olewale (1940–2009) was a politician in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea in 1968 and went on to hold several ministerial positions during the period of self-governance and after PNG's independence in 1975, including that of deputy prime minister. He was knighted in 1983 and served as chancellor of the University of Goroka from 2000 to 2006. From 2002 until his death, he was a director of the Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program.
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. She was also elected as Governor of Central Province in the 2022 general election, becoming the province's first female governor.
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.
