Politics in turmoil

Politics in Papua New Guinea has been plunged into more turmoil, with government MPs continuing to meet, with the opposition out of town, thinking they had adjourned parliament until the end of this month.
The government passed the budget and adjourned Parliament to next April.
The Opposition, bolstered by MPs crossing the floor, called for an adjournment vote, which they won.
The Opposition travelled to Vanimo to prepare for a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister James Marape, schedule to happen on Dec 1.
The date is significant because Marape’s 18 month grace period expires then.
But last Monday the Speaker Job Pomat announced that Opposition Leader Belden Namah had no standing under the standing orders to call for an adjournment and that parliament was still in session.
Parliament was to resume at 2pm on Tuesday but Michael Kabuni, a political scientist at the University of PNG, said this was brought forward to 10am, presumably prompted by legal action the opposition’s lawyers were preparing to take.
“They had a quorum. You need one third of the 111 MPs present, and they had more than 37,” Kabunit said.
“They presented a budget to themselves, the government MPs and they voted on it, so the budget is passed and they also voted to adjourn parliament to April 20.”
A motion of no confidence seems unlikely in April because it would be a year from the election.
Kabuni said such a move would prompt the governor-general to dissolve Parliament and call an early poll.
On Wednesday, Minister for Commerce and Trade William Duma, who had stood shoulder to shoulder with the rebelling MPs last Friday, rejoined the Government.
This brought to three the number of MPs who have re-joined the Government since the split.

PNG politics