Papua New Guinea - Politics - 2011 - Peter O'Neill
Somare was replaced by O'Neill in August 2011 after his seat was declared vacant while he was on an extended leave to receive medical treatment in Singapore. But in December 2011, the constitutional court ordered Somare be reinstated, saying the proper procedures to replace had not been followed. O'Neill dismissed that decision, and then passed retrospective laws legitimising his transition to power.
In January 2012, a Somare supporter was charged with mutiny after unsuccessfully attempting to take over the military and ordering Prime Minister O'Neill to resign. A faction backing the former prime minister, Michael Somare, raided army headquarters earlier on 26 January 2012, putting the army chief, Brigadier-General Francis Agwi, under house arrest and installing a new military leader. After seizing the army headquarters, Sasa said he was not mounting a coup, but demanded Somare be reinstated as prime minister as ordered by the national supreme court last month.
O'Neill soon announced that the mutiny was over and that the mutiny leader, Colonel Yaurra Sasa, "had been dealt with". Somare acknowledged that he had ordered Agwi's arrest, and that his ousted cabinet had appointed Sasa, the mutiny leader, to "take control of the army".
On May 29, 2012, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Francis Marus, added a new dimension to the situation by declaring in that body that the Prime Minister's office is vacant; i.e., that while the recent Supreme Court ruling meant that Somare is the legitimate Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, because he had missed three consecutive parliamentary sessions since January, the office was rendered vacant.
According to O'Neill, "It has become apparent that the supreme court has made decisions to try and create a chaotic situation in the country. If the supreme court and members of the bench who handed down the decision cared about the stability of the country, the decision should have been handed down after the elections and the selection of a new government."
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was arrested on charges of sedition on May 24, 2012, after police stormed the Court and took him into custody. The charge is based on a ruling issued on May 21 by an Injia-led, three-justice bench, affirming an earlier decision to the effect that the former Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, should be reinstated in place of the current leader, Peter O'Neill. Soon after Injia was charged with sedition, on May 28, a second judge involved in the May 21 ruling, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, was charged with the same crime and with allegedly having conspired with Injia “to take sides against the state.” On May 25, the day after the sedition charges were made against the Chief Justice, police blockaded Parliament and reportedly indicated that they would not allow it to convene until after the two-week election period.
Parliamentary elections took place in 2012, and local government elections occurred in 2013. In some parts of the country, electoral contests involved widespread violence, fraud, bribery, voter intimidation, and undue influence. The 2012 Parliamentary elections were critical as they marked a turning point in Papua New Guinea’s evolution as a democratic nation. The elections marked a generational shift from those who led the country to independence and the first generation of post-independence leadership.
General election took place on 23 June 2012. The People's National Congress Party (PNCP) became the largest party in parliament, with 27 of the 111 seats. A total of 18 other parties also won seats. The 2012 elections saw a high turnover: around 60 percent of outgoing members, including Speaker Jeffrey Nape, were not returned to office. The outgoing legislature had failed to pass a quota bill that would have reserved 22 seats for women. The number of women nevertheless increased from one to three, though without Dame Carol Kidu, the sole woman in the outgoing legislature and sponsor of the quota bill, who retired at the end of the legislature.
Bribery, voter intimidation, and undue influence were widespread in some parts of the country during the local elections. After the 2012 general election, the National Court registered 136 election petitions that alleged illegal practices. In 2013 two cabinet ministers lost their seats as a result of election petitions. By-elections were successfully held to replace these MPs. By December 2013 most remaining petitions had been dismissed, but 33 remained before the courts.
On 03 August 2012, the new parliament re-elected Mr. Peter O'Neill (People's National Congress Party, PNCP) as Prime Minister with the support of 93 members. This ended a year-long political stalemate, during which Mr. O'Neill and former long-time Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare both claimed to lead the government. The new 33-member Cabinet comprised 11 parties including the PNCP and Mr. Somare's National Alliance (NA). The parties in government were People's National Congress Party, Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party, National Alliance, United Resources Party, People's Party, People's Progress Party, People's Democratic Movement, Indigenous People's Party, United Party, Our Development Party, Social Democratic Party and one independent member.
On 08 June 2015, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville concluded its first self-managed regional elections. Polling was peaceful and independent observer missions declared the election free and fair. The Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner was responsive to candidate and voter complaints and solicited feedback from international and domestic observer groups to improve the electoral process.
Under the government of Peter O’Neill, the police had been responsible for various acts of violence. More than 20 people were wounded after police in Papua New Guinea opened fire on a student protest 08 June 2016 in the capital of Port Moresby, with reports, that at least four people had been killed. The South Pacific country's parliament was told the violence took place during a demonstration by students and officials denied news reports of any fatalities. Protestors said the police in Papua New Guinea fired shots directly into the crowd during a rally over alleged government corruption. The violence reportedly took place when officers tried to arrest the president of a student council. Thousands of students at the University of Papua New Guinea had been protesting and boycotting classes for several weeks amid growing political unrest in the South Pacific nation.
In recent years, the country has witnessed a catalog of human rights violations involving the police and other security forces. As the government failed to put the protection of its people at the heart of its policies, the most marginalized in society suffered horrific levels of violence.
The Australian government was supposed to be helping Papua New Guinea pull away from its cycles of violence, providing more than half a billion Australian dollars in aid per year for better governance, economic growth and “enhanced human development.” But under the outgoing government, those funds had not seen the emergence of accountability for the police and other security forces. Instead, the two countries collaborated in ways that made people on Papua New Guinea even more vulnerable to human rights abuses.
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