The scene at the National Parliament this morning was of organized groups gathering outside the parliament building in orderly fashion to enter the chamber to witness the day’s proceedings on the motion of a no confidence in Prime Minister James Marape. There were also no gatherings outside the main National Parliament gate and no sign of people holding up banners or signs protesting outside the parameters of parliament. Everything was quiet and calm. It was a normal day. Meantime, in the parliament chamber, the Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the house entered the doors leading into the chamber at around 9:50AM, that’s ten minutes before the sitting time to start at 10AM. As the country anxiously awaits the results of today's parliament sitting, the MPs were in a cheerful mood chatting, laughing, hugging, shaking hands and smiling, a shake- off of the tension that has been building surrounding the proceedings of this vote of no confidence that was to come in few moments time. That short space of time was a moment of ease before getting down to business. The parliament's public gallery was packed with the people witnessing the sitting take place. The Speaker of the House (Parliament) commenced the proceeding and then the MP for Abau Sir Puka Temu, rising as the mover, moved the motion of no confidence followed by a few words to open the debate. “I move that parliament has no confidence in Prime Minister James Marape and nominate the Governor for Enga province, Sir Peter Ipatas to be elected Prime Minister of the independent state of Papua New Guinea,” Sir Puka declared. The good MP for Abau then went on to state the reasons for the no confidence in the prime minister, stating that James Marape has not done much to address the problems the country is facing and that what had been promised when he came into power six (6) years ago in 2019, most had not transpired and that things have now gone much worse than previously experienced in the country. He highlighted the high cost of living, the high unemployment rate, food security issues and law and order to just name a few issues that he mentioned. The good MP for Wabag, Dr. Lino Tom seconded the motion and also echoed similar sentiments made by Sir Puka. But following the short statement by Dr. Lino, a call to proceed to the actual Vote of No Confidence (VONC) to commence was made. It was at this instance that things started getting rowdy. The argument was that as per the Supreme Court order, parliament will debate the VONC before the voting can take place; however, the Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, argued otherwise referring to the parliament standing orders which states that in a sitting to entertain a VONC, parliament should move forward with the vote with no debate. There were shouts, angry gestures exchanged between the MPs on the floor of parliament and while this was going on, parliament security had to remove a man from the public gallery for allegedly using his mobile phone to either record a video, go live or take pictures of the proceedings, which was a big no- no. He was led out under the guard of security officers. Nevertheless, the Speaker prevailed and parliament then voted of which the outcome was 89 votes for Prime Minister James Marape to retain his seat and 16 votes for the alternate Prime Minister, Sir Peter Ipatas. A grateful Prime Minister Marape thanked his coalition MPs and Papua New Guinea, through the leaders, for having confidence in his leadership so far. Marape pledged to continue the work and deliver more for the people. Meanwhile, Governor Sir Peter Ipatas congratulated Marape and urged him to go further in serving the country by seriously addressing the current pressing issues faced by the people. He also urged all MPs to work together in addressing the issues in this country going forward. Sir Ipatas also thanked the Opposition and the people of PNG for their confidence in him and appointing him as the alternative Prime Minister. Prime Minister Marape will now continue his term until 2027, which is the National Election year, now that he has the 18 months Grace period working for him after this unsuccessful VONC.