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Papua New Guinea tense over leadership crisis

Agence France Presse - December 13, 2011

Port Moresby – Papua New Guinea was plunged into an "unprecedented" constitutional crisis Tuesday with Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill both claiming to be the country's legitimate leader.

Close neighbor Australia urged calm, saying it was "deeply concerned" over the tense standoff in a sprawling and often violent country with a history of political intrigue and corruption.

Somare, 75, was reinstated as the Pacific island nation's prime minister late Monday when the Supreme Court ruled the election of O'Neill to the post by fellow lawmakers in August was unconstitutional.

But Speaker Jeffery Nape said during an emergency sitting of parliament Tuesday that he would only recognise the government of O'Neill.

Somare's daughter Betha told AFP her father had made it to Government House and been sworn in, although this could not be confirmed elsewhere. "The PM has already gone into Government House and he's already signed off on the instruments recognising Sir Michael as Prime Minister," she said.

But she added that his ministers had been prevented from joining him after O'Neill and dozens of his MPs blockaded the building.

"What's happening at the gates of Government House is that the government, or the rogues that were ousted, have blocked off the Government House gates," she said. "So the people that are supposed to be sworn in cannot be sworn in."

Somare, who has led the country for almost half of its 36 years of independence, was ousted by a majority of lawmakers after he spent months in Singapore recuperating from heart surgery.

His long absence from parliament prompted lawmakers to declare his seat vacant, seemingly ending his dominance over political life in the impoverished country as it stands on the threshold of a resources boom.

But in a narrow 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court found there was no vacancy in the office of prime minister, and rendered illegal the decision to hand O'Neill power. However Nape ignored the ruling and insisted O'Neill was the legitimate leader.

"The law is very clear," he said according to Australian Associated Press. "The decision by the speaker of parliament on August 2 that there was a vacancy (in the prime ministership) on August 2 was not unlawful."

Anthony Regan, a constitutional law expert at the Australian National University, called it "an unprecedented constitutional crisis in PNG" and said Governor-General Michael Ogio was in a difficult position.

"He needs to be utterly non-political but he has been put in a very political situation," he told AFP.

"Does he listen to the parliament or the Supreme Court? Each is a valued constitutional institution. I'm afraid there is no simple solution."

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd called for calm. "We are deeply concerned about the situation," he told the ABC, adding that Canberra was in touch with all parties and employing "quiet diplomacy".

"Obviously there are heightened political intentions within Port Moresby with two, as it were, alternative prime ministers. This is unknown terrain in Papua New Guinea."

The political scene of the poverty-stricken but resource-rich country, which has seen governments toppled in the past as lawmakers change party allegiances, has been dominated by Somare for decades.

His family announced his resignation in June without consulting him while he was ill, but when he recovered Somare insisted he was still in charge, saying there had "never been any vacancy in the position of prime minister".

Somare became his country's first leader on independence in 1975. He lost office in a vote of no confidence in 1980, but was re-elected and again served as prime minister from 1982 to 1985, and again from 2002.

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