Peter O’Neill avoided a no-confidence motion against him in February by declaring a three-month suspension of parliament
are rarely plain sailing in Papua New Guinea . The country’s prime ministers like to cling to office regardless of mass desertions of their political allies to their opponents’ side. Its parliamentary speakers defy the rules to keep their jobs. Governments sometimes put pressure on the judiciary and office of the governor-general to help them stay in power. So it was in 2011 during the political turmoil that eventually resulted in Peter O’Neill taking over as’s prime minister.
While in office Mr O’Neill presided over a boom in the export of minerals. A $19bn project, launched in 2014, involved the extraction of liquid natural gas in the Southern Highlands, a province. It is the biggest ever private-sector investment in. But Mr O’Neill’s opponents say it has brought little benefit to local people. Paul Flanagan, a former treasury official inGet our daily newsletterA no-confidence motion against Mr O’Neill was originally due to take place in February.
On May 7th Mr O’Neill suspended parliament for another three weeks. When it reconvened it became clear that he could no longer stem the tide. By resigning before the no-confidence motion, Mr O’Neill allowed ministers and pro-government legislators to regroup behind Mr Marape as his replacement. Mr Marape won the resulting election by 101 votes to eight. He is unlikely to push for big changes in policy.
Australia may have reason to miss Mr O’Neill. He won much favour there for accepting unwanted seekers of asylum in Australia, many of them from war-afflicted regions, on a remote island. Other countries will wonder how the leadership change inwill affect their interests. Both China and America have been trying to court favour there to strengthen their influence in a region of strategic importance. They have been pouring money into infrastructure.
But Mr O’Neill’s departure will be little mourned at home. He came to power in 2011 pledging to fight corruption. There has been little progress. His remote, mountainous country remains mired in poverty. Nearly 90% of its 8m citizens live in rural areas. Many of them are subsistence farmers with negligible access to state services. His successor faces a colossal challenge.
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