Horse-trading of MPs begins

Main Stories, National
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The National, Tuesday July 24th, 2012

IT is numbers crunching time and PNG’s political heads are going into it full time this week with four days to go before the July 27 deadline for the return of writs.
That is when the electoral commissioner advises the governor-general on which party, with the biggest number of endorsed candidates, to form the next government.
What is certain is that care-taker Prime Minister Peter O’Neill People’s National Congress is almost certain to be invited by the governor-general since the party has 17 endorsed candidates elected as of yesterday and was leading in eight seats.
O’Neill moved his group to Alotau, Milne Bay, over the weekend and declared confidently yesterday: “I would rather be in my shoes rather than in anybody else’s shoes.”

O’Neill said: “The Organic Law on Political Parties and Candidates is very clear. The party with the biggest number of endorsed candidates returned will be asked.
“We are very confident that on current indications, PNC will be called to form the government.”
That might be the law but PNC will need at least 26 more members from other parties and groupings, even if it won all the seats it is leading now presently.
They will have to come from the People’s Progress Party, which has six MPs declared, and independents, National Alliance, PNG Party and Triumph Heritage Empowerment (T.H.E) Party which all have five members each and People’s Party and United Resources Party which have three members.
Other parties have either one or two MPs all adding to the total declared seats last night of 59. There are 52 seats yet to be declared.
And while they are talking, none of the major parties are moving but it is certain there is no love lost between O’Neill and his deputy Belden Namah.
Namah stormed home for his Vanimo-Green River electorate last Friday and reiterated his earlier stand that he is putting up his hand for the prime minister’s seat.
Yesterday, Communication Minister and Central Bougainville MP Jimmy Miringtoro said Namah landed on Bougainville and took off with PNC’s just-elected member for North Bougainville Louta Atoi.
Attempts to confirm this with Namah were unsuccessful.
O’Neill indicated, following the snatching of Atoi, that Namah had made his bed so he must lie in it.
“I wish him luck,” he said of Namah. “I think Papua New Guineans are sick and tired of erratic behaviour. They need leaders who are stable. They do not need leaders who are unpredictable.”
As to whether or not he was talking to Sir Michael Somare’s National Alliance, O’Neill                                said he would let the past pass and turn a new leaf.
At Namah’s declaration last Friday were Pangu’s just-declared Angoram MP Ludwig Shultz and leader of the Coalition for Reform Party Joseph Lelang (Kandrian-Gloucester) whose candidate and only Indian-born MP, Sasindran Muthuvel, has also been declared governor-elect for West New Britain.
T.H.E Party leader Don Polye, who had also put his hand up for the job of prime minister, is silent. But his group is the next which is leading in eight seats and is expected to finish off with the second biggest number of endorsed candidates returned if all were to win.
Perhaps the dark horse as always in the past, which might have the biggest influence in the formation of government, is the People’s Progress Party which had returned six MPs. With its agreement to work together with the People’s Democratic Movement, it is certain the group can boast a formidable force in the lead-up to formation of government.
Re-elected Talasea MP and PNG Party member Francis Marus said last night the group that had changed government on Aug 2 last year had pledged to identify, expose and depose of corruption in the government.
He did not feel it was the time to go back to the old regime of people who had been targeted for deposing. Since that appeared to be happening, he proposed a regional block of West New Britain and New Guinea Island MPs to put the region’s case to groups vying for power rather than play second fiddle to the highlands and Mamose politics.
The party leaders returned so far are O’Neill (PNC), Namah (PNG Party), Polye (T.H.E Party), Sir Michael (NA), Sir Julius Chan (PPP), William Duma (United Resources Party) and United People’s Assembly’s Anderson Agiru.
Two women made political history in Delilah Gore for Sohe and Loujaya Toni for Lae. Gore is with T.H.E Party while Toni left for the Alotau camp yesterday.