Nape stalls ceremony

By EDDIE MOSES
ACTING Governor-General Jeffery Nape was at his usual frustrating best yesterday afternoon.
Peter O’Neill and his entourage, in high spirits from their victorious 56-0 vote to reappoint him as prime minister, were given a rude shock when Nape walked in and suspended the swearing -in ceremony.
He said the prime minister-elect could not be sworn in as yet as he wanted certain legal clarifications first.
Completely caught off guard, O’Neill and his team watched speechlessly as the Nape walked out.
Apparently, as a Government House staffer later confirmed, the legal issues were related to the legality of the convening of parliament. It had been widely reported that Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio had not signed the instruments to convene parliament although a gazzettal notice to that effect had been printed and circulated. The staffer confirmed that to date, no such instrument to convene parliament had been signed by the acting governor-general either.A further legal hiccup that needed clarification was the O’Neill-Namah government’s refusal to recognise and accept the Supreme Court ruling last Monday. The court had declared Sir Michael Somare the legitimate prime minister of PNG from Aug 2 last year.A further twist was acting Speaker Francis Marus’ declaration of a vacancy in the office of the prime minister. Parliament had earlier disqualified Sir Michael as an MP and, as such, he could not occupy the office of the prime minister.Whether the acting governor-general’s motives for frustrating O’Neill’s swearing-in ceremony were for the reasons as stated is anybody’s guess. But a long drawn out negotiation ensued for the next four hours. Some form of compromise could have been reached as, eventually, a smiling Nape walked in and officiated at the prime minister’s swearing-in.It ended with O’Neill being sworn in as prime minister just after 5pm.