The prime minister has assured Parliament that a long term solution is being looked at in the form of an alternate fuel supplier, now that the current situation being faced with Puma Energy PNG is about to get worse. However, Prime Minister James Marape said he was disappointed that despite a K2million put into funding a consultation, which included the Bank of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to look into what was the illegality of Puma’s existence in PNG, a final report has not been presented on the findings yet. He said BPNG has yet to come forth with the reasons…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The topic of Christianity was hotly debated in parliament yesterday afternoon after the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Pila Niningi, presented a bill to amend the Constitution to declare Papua New Guinea (PNG) a Christian Country. The Minister said that this proposed amendment to the Constitution should not be a surprise to anyone because the 2011 Censors showed that 96% of Papua New Guineans align themselves to the Christian Faith and therefore, it is imperative that this fact be anchored in the Constitution. It is for this reason that in 2020, the National Executive Council (NEC) in its…
Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has thanked the Members of Parliament and his coalition for having faith in his leadership and voting in confidence of his leadership today on the floor of Parliament. Marape, when giving his statement after the Vote of Confidence where the majority of Leaders voted for him, said there is much to deliver this year and that every Member needs to focus on this instead of trying to weaken the government through a Vote of No Confidence (VONC). Marape also said that the vote of 84 to 0 shows also the number of the government as…
The Opposition has walked out of the Parliament chambers in protest after the Speaker of Parliament made a ruling to entertain a Vote of Confidence in Prime Minister James Marape. The Opposition argued that the move by Minister for Government Business, Rainbo Paita, to hold a Vote of Confidence was no part of Parliament procedures, but the Speaker said the precedence was already set in previous parliaments and will go through with it. The Speaker allowed the vote to go ahead with the majority of the Members of Parliament voting in favor of Prime Minister James Marape, 84 to 0.…
The prime minister has given assurance to parliament that allegations made about abuse of funds from the Connect PNG program will be fully investigated starting with the Department of Works (DOW). Prime Minister (PM) James Marape when responding to question from Member for Ialibu Pangia Peter O’Neill, said the Finance Department has been called to conduct an independent audit into DOW and anyone found to be involved in corrupt dealings will be dealt with. “We will get a full look into what is happening, a full inquiry into it.” The MP for Ialibu Pangia asked the PM to tell the…
The Opposition yesterday submitted the Vote of No Confidence (VONC) motion against the prime minister to the office of the Speaker of Parliament in the hope that other Members of Parliament (MPs) see the real reason behind their move and switch sides to support them. In a press conference held in the afternoon after the first parliament sitting of 2024, the Opposition team said the VONC now opens up a pathway for MPs in the government side of the house to make the right decision and put the interest of their people first, and join the Opposition and supporting their…
The opposition has announced that East Sepik Governor Allan Bird is the alternate prime minister as they move a Vote of No Confidence motion against Prime Minister James Marape. Governor Bird accepted the nomination and now has the support of the few Opposition Members who are optimistic that more Members will join them as the parliament session continues. Former prime minister and Member for Ialibu Pangia Peter O’Neill gave his support to the alternate prime minister, saying that despite PNC Party having the majority of members, he rather see someone else nominated as alternate PM. Just this afternoon the Opposition…
Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has reassured Parliament that those who were involved in causing the Black Wednesday riots on 10th January, will be identified and dealt with accordingly through the Commission of Inquiry (COI). Marape said again that the incident was unfortunate when police stopped work for 10 hours, leading to the riots and looting and destructions of shops and warehouses resulting in a total of K480 million worth of losses. He said apart from the COI run by a judge, the police is also conducting a criminal investigation into what had happened. “The first stage of investigation is…
The Acting Speaker of Parliament, Koni Iguana, has announced that he has received a Vote of No Confidence (VONC) motion from the Opposition this afternoon at 1:45pm, setting now into motion the process of a VONC against Prime Minister James Marape. He said as part of the process, tomorrow the Private Business Committee will go through the motion to ensure that the motion meets all requirements as per the constitution. What the Committee will be looking at in the VONC motion is the name of who will be the alternate prime minister, if the motion is second and if the…
The business houses in the city of Port Moresby that were affected by the Black Wednesday riots are hoping that the government comes good soon on the relief package promised to them, now that the first parliament sitting for the year will commence tomorrow. According to the President of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry (POMCCI) Mr. Rio Fiocco, they are hoping that the National Executive Council (NEC) gets to approve that relief package this week when NEC meets. However, he said this could be delayed a bit due to the parliament session and the looming Vote of…