Politics of Papua New Guinea 23404 210407015 2008-05-05T20:23:41Z The Transhumanist 1754504 remove redundant term & link error, Replaced: [[Plurality voting system|pluriform]] → using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Politics of Papua New Guinea}} The '''politics of Papua New Guinea''' takes place in a framework of a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[monarchy]] within the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], whereby the [[List of Prime Ministers of the Papua New Guinea|Prime Minister]] is the [[head of government]] and of a [[multi-party system]]. [[Papua New Guinea]] is an independent country and [[Commonwealth Realm]]. [[Executive power]] is exercised by the government. [[Legislative power]] is vested in both the [[government]] and parliament. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The [[judiciary]] is independent of the executive and the legislature. ==Executive branch== As [[Head of State]], [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]], styled ''Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Papua New Guinea and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth'', or simply ''Queen of Papua New Guinea'', is represented in [[Papua New Guinea]] by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The [[Governor-General of Papua New Guinea]] is elected by parliament. The governments of Papua New Guinea are characterized by weak political parties and highly unstable parliamentary coalitions. The [[prime minister]], elected by Parliament, chooses the other members of the [[Cabinet of Papua New Guinea|cabinet]]. Each ministry is headed by a cabinet member, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, a career public servant, who directs the staff of the ministry. The cabinet consists members, including the [[Prime Minister]] and ministers of executive departments. They answer politically to parliament. The Governor General appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Governor General appoints the other justices with the advice of a judicial commission. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom serves as the highest appellate court. {{office-table}} |[[Monarch of Papua New Guinea|Queen]] |[[Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]] | |[[6 February]] [[1952]] |- |[[Governor-General of Papua New Guinea|Governor-General]] |[[Paulias Matane]] | |[[29 June]] [[2004]] |- |[[Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea|Prime Minister]] |[[Michael Somare]] |[[National Alliance Party|NAP]] |[[2002]] |} ==Legislative branch== {{main|National Parliament of Papua New Guinea}} Papua New Guinea has a unicameral [[National Parliament of Papua New Guinea|National Parliament]], previously known as the House of Assembly. It has 109 seats, with 89 elected from single-member "Open" electorates and 20 from province-level "Provincial" electorates. Members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. The [[Papua New Guinean general election, 2007|most recent election]] was held in June-July 2007. [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] are elected from the [[Provinces of Papua New Guinea|nineteen provinces]] and the [[National Capital District (Papua New Guinea)|National Capital District]]. After independence in 1975, members were elected by the [[first past the post]] system, with winners frequently gaining less than 15% of the vote. Electoral reforms in 2001 introduced the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a modified version of [[alternative vote]], where voters number their first three choices among the candidates. The first general election to use LPV was held in 2007. Parliament introduced reforms in June 1995 to change the provincial government system, with Provincial members of Parliament becoming provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in Parliament. However, if a provincial member accepts a position as a cabinet minister, the role of governor falls to one of the Open members of Parliament from the province. ==Political parties and elections== {{elect|List of political parties in Papua New Guinea|Elections in Papua New Guinea}} {{Papua New Guinean parliamentary election, 2007}} ==Judicial branch== {{main|Law of Papua New Guinea}} Papua New Guinea's judiciary is independent of the government. It protects constitutional rights and interprets the laws. There are several levels, culminating in the [[Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea]]. There is a [[Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea]], not separately constituted but an appellate Full Court of the National Court. Its [[Chief Justice]], also the Chief Justice of the National Court, is appointed by the Governor General on the proposal of the National Executive Council after consultation with the Minister responsible for justice. Other justices of the National Court, who are available to sit as members of ad hoc benches of the Supreme Court, are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission. ==Provincial government== {{main|Provinces of Papua New Guinea}} Reforms in June 1995 changed the provincial government system. Regional (at-large) members of Parliament became provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in Parliament. Papua New Guinea has twenty province-level divisions: eighteen [[province]]s, one autonomous province ([[Bougainville Province|Bougainville]]) and the [[National Capital District, Papua New Guinea|National Capital District]]. [[Image:Papua new guinea provinces (numbers).png|thumb|none|400px|Provinces of Papua New Guinea]] {|class="wikitable sortable" ! Province !! Capital !Area (km²) !! Population |- | [[Central Province, Papua New Guinea|Central]] || [[Port Moresby]] (move to [[Bautama]] planned) |align="right"| {{commas|29500}} ||align="right"| {{commas|161447}} |- | [[Simbu Province|Simbu (Chimbu)]] || [[Kundiawa]] |align="right"| {{commas|6100}} ||align="right"| {{commas|187809}} |- | [[Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea|Eastern Highlands]] || [[Goroka]] |align="right"| {{commas|11200}} ||align="right"| {{commas|316802}} |- | [[East New Britain]] || [[Rabaul]] |align="right"| {{commas|15500}} ||align="right"| {{commas|235712}} |- | [[East Sepik]] || [[Wewak]] |align="right"| {{commas|42800}} ||align="right"| {{commas|280340}} |- | [[Enga Province|Enga]] || [[Webag]] |align="right"| {{commas|12800}} ||align="right"| {{commas|279046}} |- | [[Gulf Province|Gulf]] || [[Kerema]] |align="right"| {{commas|34500}} ||align="right"| {{commas|72794}} |- | [[Madang Province|Madang]] || [[Madang]] |align="right"| {{commas|29000}} ||align="right"| {{commas|288317}} |- | [[Manus Province|Manus]] || [[Lorengau]] |align="right"| {{commas|2100}} ||align="right"| {{commas|38697}} |- | [[Milne Bay Province|Milne Bay]] || [[Alotau]] |align="right"| {{commas|14000}} ||align="right"| {{commas|185000}} |- | [[Morobe Province|Morobe]] || [[Lae]] |align="right"| {{commas|34500}} ||align="right"| {{commas|439725}} |- | [[New Ireland Province|New Ireland]] || [[Kavieng]] |align="right"| {{commas|9600}} ||align="right"| {{commas|105893}} |- | [[Oro Province|Oro (Northern)]] || [[Popondetta]] |align="right"| {{commas|22800}} ||align="right"| {{commas|112985}} |- | [[Bougainville Island|North Solomons (Bougainville)]] || [[Buka, Papua New Guinea|Buka]] (move back to [[Arawa, Papua New Guinea|Arawa]] planned) |align="right"| {{commas|9300}} ||align="right"| {{commas|178262}} |- | [[Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea|Southern Highlands]] || [[Mendi]] |align="right"| {{commas|23800}} ||align="right"| {{commas|390240}} |- | [[Western Province, Papua New Guinea|Western]] || [[Daru]] |align="right"| {{commas|99300}} ||align="right"| {{commas|126411}} |- | [[Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea|Western Highlands]] || [[Mount Hagen]] |align="right"| {{commas|8500}} ||align="right"| {{commas|398376}} |- | [[West New Britain]] || [[Kimbe]] |align="right"| {{commas|21000}} ||align="right"| {{commas|170485}} |- | [[Sandaun|Sandaun (West Sepik)]] || [[Vanimo]] |align="right"| {{commas|36300}} ||align="right"| {{commas|160349}} |- | [[National Capital District, Papua New Guinea|National Capital District]] || [[Port Moresby]] |align="right"| {{commas|240}} ||align="right"| {{commas|271813}} |} ====North Solomons (Bougainville)==== On [[Bougainville Island]], initially focused on traditional land rights, environmental and economic issues stemming from the operation of the [[Panguna mine]], (a ''Conzinc RioTinto Australia'' (now [[Rio Tinto (company)|Rio Tinto]] Limited) and PNG government joint venture), a civil war quickly grew into a war for independence from PNG. From early 1989 until a truce came into effect in October 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998 as many as 20,000 people were killed. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a [[United Nations]] observer mission, the government and provincial leaders have established an interim government and are working toward election of a provincial government and a referendum on independence. The people of Bougainville are closely related to those of the nearby [[Solomon Islands]]. ==Instability== The [[Mekere Morauta|Morauta government]] brought in a series of electoral reforms in 2001, designed to address instability and corruption. Among the reforms was the introduction of the Limited Preferential Vote system (LPV), a modified version of [[Alternative vote]], for future elections in PNG. (The introduction of LPV was partly in response to calls for changes in the voting system by [[Transparency International]] and the [[European Union]].) The first general election to use LPV will be held in 2007. There are many parties, but party allegiances are weak. Winning candidates are usually courted in efforts to forge the majority needed to form a government, and allegiances are fluid. No single party has yet won enough seats to form a government in its own right. Papua New Guinea has a history of changes in government coalitions and leadership from within Parliament during the five-year intervals between national elections. New governments are protected by law from votes of no confidence for the first 18 months of their incumbency, and no votes of no confidence may be moved in the 12 months preceding a national election. On [[Bougainville Island]], a rebellion occurred from early 1989 until a truce came into effect in October 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a [[United Nations]] observer mission, the government and provincial leaders have established an interim government and are working toward election of a provincial government and a referendum on independence. The last national election was held in June 2007. [[Michael Somare]] was reelected Prime Minister, a position he also held in the country's first parliament after independence. Somare has held power since 2002, where he won in a violence-marred polling. Supplementary elections were held in Southern Highlands province in June 2003 after record levels of electoral fraud and intimidation during the 2002 polls. A study by the [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]], entitled "Strengthening our neighbour: Australia and the future of Papua New Guinea" and published in December 2004 found that PNG's weak government and [[police|policing]] has allowed [[organized crime]] [[gang]]s to relocate from [[Southeast Asia]] in recent years. ==International organization participation== [[ACP countries|ACP]], [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]], [[Asian Development Bank|AsDB]], [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]] (observer), [[Commonwealth of Nations|C]], [[Colombo Plan|CP]], [[Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific|ESCAP]], [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]], [[Group of 77|G-77]], [[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development|IBRD]], [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]], [[International Confederation of Free Trade Unions|ICFTU]], [[ICRM]], [[International Development Association|IDA]], [[International Fund for Agricultural Development|IFAD]], [[International Finance Corporation|IFC]], [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|IFRCS]], [[International Hydrographic Organization|IHO]], [[International Labour Organization|ILO]], [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], [[International Maritime Organization|IMO]], [[Intelsat]], [[International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies|IFRCS]], [[International Organization for Migration|IMO]], [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|ICRM]], [[Interpol]], [[IOC]], [[International Organization for Migration|IOM]] (observer), [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] (correspondent), [[International Telecommunication Union|ITU]], [[Non-Aligned Movement|NAM]], [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|OPCW]], [[Pacific Islands Forum|SPF]], [[Sparteca]], [[Secretariat of the Pacific Community|SPC]], [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development|UNCTAD]], [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]], [[United Nations Industrial Development Organization|UNIDO]], [[United Nations|UN]], [[Universal Postal Union|UPU]], [[World Federation of Trade Unions|WFTU]], [[World Health Organization|WHO]], [[World Intellectual Property Organization|WIPO]], [[World Meteorological Organization|WMO]], [[World Trade Organization|WTrO]] == References == * Chin, James. 2005. Papua New Guinea in 2004: Recolonization, Somare"s Staying Power, and a Slight Economic Recovery, [[Asian Survey]], Vol 45, No 1, 2005. pp 191-195 * White, Hugh; Wainwright, Elsina et al. 2004. "[http://www.aspi.org.au/publications/publication_details.aspx?ContentID=63 Strengthening Our Neighbour: Australia and the future of Papua New Guinea]", Australian Strategic Policy Institute == External links == *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4094053.stm Papua New Guinea 'set to implode'] {{Template group |list = {{Oceania topic|Politics of}} {{Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)}} }} <!--Categories--> [[Category:Politics of Papua New Guinea| ]] <!--Other languages--> [[fr:Politique de la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée]]