SYDNEY (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea’s parliament on Wednesday re-elected Peter O’Neill as prime minister, ending a chaotic election campaign marred by violence, which analysts fear may continue amid widespread voter unrest.

FILE PHOTO - Peter O'Neill, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), speaks during the opening of the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment conference in Sydney, Australia, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

While O’Neill’s ruling People’s National Congress party was unable to win enough seats to form a government outright in elections last month, in which counting continues, he secured enough support from minor parties and independent lawmakers to be re-elected prime minister, a job he has held since 2011.

O’Neil was declared the winner of the vote by newly-elected speaker Job Pomat after securing 60 votes.

O’Neill’s re-election marks a rare period of political stability in the resource-rich South Pacific nation that has seen four different leaders in the last six years.

But with the election tainted by poor organization and opposition accusations of electoral roll irregularities, voter frustration, already high, looms over O’Neill’s tenure.

“Emotions are running high and there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the way that O’Neill managed his first term. I think at some point that emotion will boil over,” said Jonathan Pryke, a research fellow at Australian think-tank the Lowy Institute.

O’Neill’s government has promised to improve education and health care but his fiscal gamble in his previous term limits his ability to meet those commitments, analysts said.

O’Neill’s government borrowed heavily in the expectation that Exxon Mobil’s $20-billion LNG plant would unleash a new wave of economic prosperity, but a slide in energy prices saw the 2016 budget deficit balloon to 34 percent of GDP, more than double what it was in 2012.

“The economy is a mess. The numbers from treasury show anemic growth but in reality when you look at the data, the country is in recession,” said a former PNG economic advisor to the government who spoke on condition for anonymity.

To meet mounting interest repayments, O’Neill’s government cut services to its near 8 million population, stoking civil unrest. Corruption, which has plagued PNG for decades, has also acted a lightening rod for anti-O’Neill supporters.

O’Neill, who came to power promising to reign in corruption, has faced allegations he authorized millions of dollars in fraudulent payments to a leading law firm.

In 2014, an anti-corruption watchdog issued an order for O’Neill’s arrest over the alleged incident. O’Neill rejected the charges, refused to submit to the warrant and ordered the watchdog stripped of its funding.

“Corruption is everywhere and things have to change. The people want a change,” Noel Anjo, a political activist who led a student protest last year that ended when police began shooting.</s>Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill was re-elected as leader of the South Pacific island nation on Wednesday, following a complex, chaotic election plagued by violence and allegations of ballot fraud.

The nation's Parliament elected O'Neill to a second five-year term by a vote of 60 to 46, after his People's National Congress party won enough seats to form a coalition government with other minor parties.

Polling in Papua New Guinea — a rugged, mountainous country that is considered one of the world's most corrupt nations — is a lengthy, complicated process monitored by police and soldiers. Voting began in June, and counting took weeks. Along the way, violent protests broke out over allegations of vote-counting fraud and two police officers were killed. The election's legality has already being challenged in court, and counting was still underway in several electorates even as O'Neill was being sworn in.

Still, the 52-year-old prime minister said he was pleased with the way the poll had been conducted, telling Parliament in a speech that it had been the most peaceful election ever held in many parts of the country.

"We've heard what the people have said in the elections, we've taken stock of it and we will do every bit to do it better," he said.

It's true that O'Neill's re-election process was relatively placid compared to the way he initially came to power. In 2011, he replaced Prime Minister Michael Somare while Somare was in Singapore undergoing heart surgery. Both Somare and O'Neill then spent months claiming to be prime minister, setting off a constitutional crisis in which the Supreme Court backed Somare, while a majority of Parliament backed O'Neill.

O'Neill eventually won a mandate in a 2012 election, vowing to combat corruption in a country that ranked 136th among 176 nations last year in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index.

But O'Neill's attempts to clean up corruption in the country didn't go particularly well. He disbanded his anti-corruption task force after it tried to execute an arrest warrant on him over allegations of fraud involving government payments made to a private law firm. The Supreme Court ordered that his arrest warrant not be executed, but many members of the public believed that O'Neill had placed himself above the law.

On Wednesday, O'Neill acknowledged in his speech to Parliament that no government is perfect, and vowed to make improvements.

The prime minister managed to stave off a challenge from opposition leader Don Polye, a 50-year-old former minister in O'Neill's government and leader of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party. Polye campaigned against what he dubbed the government's economic mismanagement through burgeoning debt.

Papua New Guinea's largest export is liquefied natural gas. The ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG project began exporting to Japan in 2014, but many Papua New Guineans have asked where the revenue has gone.

Stephen Howes, a professor at Australian National University and a Papua New Guinea expert, said O'Neill's immediate challenge will be addressing the country's economic woes. He will also continue to face controversy. The election has already been challenged by an opposing candidate, who asked the Supreme Court to decide whether holding the vote on a Sunday breached the country's constitution.

"I think he has a mandate, but the allegations of corruption won't go away," Howes said. "He'll continue to be dogged by controversy."</s>Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has been re-elected as leader of the South Pacific island nation.

The nation's parliament elected O'Neill to a second five-year term on Wednesday by a vote of 60 to 46, after his People's National Congress party won enough seats to form a coalition government with other minor parties.

Papua New Guinea is considered one of the world's most corrupt nations, and polling there is a complicated process monitored by police and soldiers. Voting began in June, and counting took weeks. Along the way, violent protests broke out over allegations of vote-counting fraud and two police officers were killed.

The election's legality has already being challenged in court, and counting was still underway in several electorates even as O'Neill was being sworn in.</s>PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has been re-elected after securing sufficient minor party and independent support.

Papua New Guinea's parliament has re-elected Peter O'Neill as prime minister, ending a chaotic election campaign marred by violence.

While O'Neill's ruling People's National Congress party was unable to win enough seats to form a government outright in elections last month, in which counting continues, he secured enough minor party and independent support to be re-elected prime minister on Wednesday.

He has held the job since 2011.

O'Neil was declared the winner by newly-elected Speaker Job Pomat after securing 60 votes.

O'Neill's re-election marks a rare period of political stability in the resource-rich South Pacific nation that has had four leaders in six years.

But with the election tainted by poor organisation and opposition accusations of electoral roll irregularities, voter frustration, already high, looms over O'Neill's tenure.

"Emotions are running high and there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the way that O'Neill managed his first term. I think at some point that emotion will boil over," said Jonathan Pryke, a research fellow at Australian think-tank the Lowy Institute.

O'Neill's government has promised to improve education and health care but his fiscal gamble in his previous term limits his ability to meet those commitments, analysts said.

O'Neill's government borrowed heavily in the expectation Exxon Mobil's $US20 billion ($A25 billion) LNG plant would unleash a new wave of economic prosperity but a slide in energy prices saw the 2016 budget deficit balloon to 34 per cent of GDP, more than double what it was in 2012.

"The economy is a mess. The numbers from treasury show anaemic growth but in reality when you look at the data, the country is in recession," said a former government economic advisor speaking on condition for anonymity.</s>Peter O'Neill has been re-elected Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea after a vote in the country's Parliament, capping off a chaotic election period.

Mr O'Neill will serve as Prime Minister for a five-year term, with his People's National Congress leading a coalition of parties.

Today's sitting has been suspended as Mr O'Neill heads to Government House to be sworn in by the Governor-General.

Not all of Papua New Guinea's MPs were in the Parliament for the vote, as counting was continuing in some electorates.

Only 106 of 111 election writs made it back in time for the sitting of Parliament.

The vote was held despite the objections of senior legal figures who said the country's electoral commissioner did not follow the law during the return of the election writs and by giving the invitation to Mr O'Neill to form government.

The proceedings also got off to a late and confusing start when two candidates, Nick Kuman and Dawa Lucas, both claimed to be the member-elect for one seat.

Both men refused to move when asked by parliamentary staff, leading to commotion in the chamber.

During the session, PNG's National Court granted an order to stop both men from participating in today's sitting, which further complicated matters.

The clerk of Parliament later announced Mr Kuman as the member-elect.

More to come.</s>SYDNEY (Reuters) - The parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) will elect a prime minister at the end of the week, lawmakers said on Monday, in an election marred by poor organization and opposition accusations of electoral roll irregularities.

With no political party able to clinch enough seats to form a government, analysts said the outcome remained too close to call, stirring voter frustration that could trigger more unrest in the resource-rich South Pacific nation.

On Saturday, incumbent Prime Minister Peter O'Neill was invited to try to form a coalition government, with his party on track to win the largest number of seats, although fewer than half the 56 needed, forcing him to woo coalition partners.

"The ruling People's National Congress and the main opposition, the National Alliance party, each believe they have the numbers, it is very close," said Jonathan Pryke, a research fellow at Australian think-tank the Lowy Institute.

Wednesday's vote to determine PNG's next parliamentary speaker will offer a clue to which party has the necessary support to win the prime ministerial vote, analysts say.

However, both decisions are unlikely to be made by a full complement of lawmakers, as vote counting continues after polls had to be extended when a large number of voters were unable to cast ballots.

PNG voters went to the polls to elect a new 111-member parliament in late June, but use of an electoral roll dating from 2012 meant many voters could not vote, forcing an extension of a two-week window.

Most of PNG's nearly 8 million people live at subsistence level on islands, atolls and in remote mountain villages, despite the country's mineral wealth, evidenced by energy giant Exxon Mobil's $20-billion LNG plant.

"It is most unlikely that all seats will have been declared by Friday," said a source close to the main opposition National Alliance Party, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to talk to the media.

"The numbers won't matter, the prime minister will be determined by the majority present on the day."

Voter dissatisfaction with the election triggered sporadic violence nationwide, but O'Neill's re-election could stoke more tension, as many are disenchanted by corruption allegations against him that he denies.

The winner faces a tough economic task, with the 2016 budget deficit of 34 percent of GDP having doubled from 2012, worsened by a slump in energy prices.

A 2016 drought crippled farming and halted production at the largest copper mine, by cutting off river transport and so fuel supply.

PNG must also grapple with fallout from plans to close an Australian-run detention center home to just over 800 refugees, mainly from South Asia and the Middle East.

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2017. Follow Reuters on Twitter.</s>Peter O’Neill has been reappointed as prime minister of Papua New Guinea amid a shaky start to the new parliament, with a power blackout and two MPs turning up to take the same seat.

The opening of the 10th PNG parliament – which has no women despite the highest number of female candidates in the country’s democratic history – follows a chaotic campaign and election. It included violence and arson, allegations of voter fraud and bribery, and at least one attempted kidnapping.

Voting finished earlier this month but the election process was not completed until MPs from the numerous parties negotiated coalitions and voted for a prime minister. A vocal group of more than 40 MPs, named the National Alliance, declared they intended to keep O’Neill from being elected.

However, despite the results for more than 20 seats not yet returned by last week, O’Neill’s People’s National Congress – which led the tally but did not have a majority – was invited to attempt to form government.

On Wednesday morning the new parliament sat with what was believed to be the largest number of undeclared seats in PNG history and O’Neill was re-elected as prime minister by 60 votes to 46.

It came just one day after the PNG supreme court threw out an application to have O’Neill’s election in his own seat declared void.

The vote was delayed when two individuals attempted to take the seat of Gumine in the Chimbu province and refused to leave the chamber. PNC candidate Nick Kuman was eventually sworn in, despite a live challenge to the legality of the electoral official who declared his win, Radio New Zealand reported.

O’Neill is now set to lead PNG for his second term after a highly controversial five years in office. During this election he faced criticism over the conduct of sitting MPs, as opposition candidates accused the governing party of interfering with the vote.

“Regardless of the outcome of this election and regardless of where we sit on this floor of parliament, our people and nation’s interests must be our common goal,” he said in his speech on Wednesday.

“No government is ever perfect, no government delivers policy without challenges. In our last government, we admit where we could have done things better – and we make improvements.”

In his speech he also acknowledged the challenging campaign and committed to a full review of electoral processes but said it had been the most peaceful in PNG’s history.

The months-long campaign was fraught with incidents, allegations and violence, and extensive legal challenges are expected to come before the courts.



Gorethy Kenneth, a senior political journalist with the Post Courier newspaper who has covered three national elections, said this one was not as violent as in 2002 but it was “a hectic campaign”.

“One of the highland seats is still in chaos – not really bad – but they are still counting while the parliament is being formed now,” Kenneth said. “There are five seats yet to be declared, which is an outcome of a lot of issues they faced with the electoral role: infighting, tribal fighting, fighting with the scrutineers. The electoral roll was one of the main issues.”

Kenneth said much of the campaigning occurred on social media, which was more difficult to monitor, and there was a late show of support for the incumbent party.

“That’s why there was a lot of punishing and mud slinging,” she said. “There was trouble. For example, in the New Guinea islands region … a couple of people died – election related. This region, where I come from, is normally a peaceful election province.”

Four people were killed in an election-related shooting and dozens of scrutineers arrested for destroying ballot boxes in some seats.

Airports and roads were shut in Mount Hagen as counting irregularities prompted violent protests. In Port Moresby, opposition and government MPs clashed at the airport.

The Commonwealth Observer Group called for an urgent review after thousands of claims were made of people being removed from the roll and unable to vote, and alleged instances of vote buying and the misuse of government funds for pork-barreling.

Bizarre scenes played out in the seat of north-west Port Moresby, where former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta, an active opponent of O’Neill’s, won the vote. However, the returning electoral officer went missing without signing the writ, emerging at a hotel some time later in front of a local TV news crew, declaring the third-place candidate the winner. The election manager for the district later said the signed writ was not legal and the officer had been formally replaced after claiming he was ill.

Morauta later said the nation was in “crisis” after five years of O’Neill and accused “rogue” police officers loyal to the PM of attacking his aides at the airport. Morautu suggested it was the same group accused of attempting to kidnap MP Richard Masere, a fellow anti-O’Neill National Alliance member.

According to the allegation, the kidnappers were led by Masere’s failed opposition candidate from the PNC who, O’Neill later told media, was no longer a member of the party, SBS reported.

All three members of PNG’s Electoral Advisory Committee resigned, alleging the electoral commission would not provide information for them to conduct their role.

On Tuesday the electoral commissioner, Patilias Gamato, defended his running of the election.

“People have their own opinion, they can say anything they want to say,” he said on Tuesday. “But my judgement is as long as I return the writs of 111 seats, it is a successful election.”

Gomato had made headlines midway through the ballot when he took out a court order to stop a well-known political blogger from referring to him as “Patilias Tomato”.

The incident, as well as the banning of local media from counting rooms, prompted accusations of government attempts to stifle free speech.</s>A coalition led by O'Neill's People's National Congress secures 60 seats in the 111-seat parliament, local reports say, with 5 still to be counted

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – Peter O'Neill was sworn in Wednesday, August 2, for another 5-year term as Papua New Guinea's prime minister following a volatile and drawn-out election marred by violence and allegations of vote-buying.

A coalition led by O'Neill's People's National Congress secured 60 seats in the 111-seat parliament, local reports said, with 5 still to be counted. No single party has ever won a majority and alliances are common in PNG politics.

"Now that we have formed government, we won’t be discouraging the views that are different to ours," O'Neill told parliament Wednesday.

"We will be a government that listens more, talks less and works harder at every opportunity."

Two weeks of polling across the vast and remote country ended on July 8, but not without controversy.

Many voters complained their names had been left off the electoral roll. Students torched ballot papers in the country's second largest city of Lae, protesting that not enough had been issued at their university.

Polling was delayed for several days in the capital Port Moresby after officials went on strike over unpaid allowances.

One of O'Neill's main opponents, Don Polye's Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party, reportedly accused leaders of one constituency of "deliberately and openly rigging the election".

O'Neill, who won the last election in 2012, hailed this year's vote as "calm and peaceful" although monitors from the Commonwealth Observer Group called for a review of electoral processes, particularly given the number of vote-buying allegations.

The new government will face challenges including an economy hurt by slumping commodity prices, widespread allegations of corruption and communal violence among a vast tribal population.

The PNG leader has vowed to improve the quality of education, health care and infrastructure as well as reviewing the electoral process. – Rappler.com</s>Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill re-elected, but the real challenges lie ahead

Elections in Papua New Guinea are a brutal business, but the real challenges are those that lie ahead for the re-elected Prime Minister.

On Wednesday, the country's Parliament returned Peter O'Neill as Prime Minister for a second five-year term with a healthy majority, 60 to 46.

However he did not live up to the expectations of his first term, and retains leadership of a country facing significant and immediate challenges.

The past few years have been difficult for our nearest neighbour.

One of the most natural resources-dependent countries in the world, the economy has been hammered by the collapse of global commodity prices.

The Government was slow to react to this new reality, and is facing significant pressures on the monetary and fiscal fronts.

Cash has been in short supply, and cracks are forming across the public sector.

Cracks have also formed around the Prime Minister. Numerous allegations of corruption against Mr O'Neill came to a head last year with student protests that ended in violent clashes with police.

These allegations are still slowly making their way through the courts, but have no doubt distracted the Prime Minister from the task of managing Papua New Guinea's significant development challenges and weakened economic position.

Despite the problems, Mr O'Neill entered the ninth general elections in a position of significant strength.

A masterful politician, Mr O'Neill had built a coalition government that held 93 of 111 seats, and from the outside appeared unbeatable.

But alliances are tenuous in PNG politics where there are no permanent enemies or friends, only permanent interests.

Papua New Guinea elections also typically turn over 50 per cent of sitting MPs, making them incredibly unpredictable.

This election was no different, with Mr O'Neill suffering major defections and losing a third of his coalition.

While it was closer than many could have predicted, Mr O'Neill has prevailed.

Now the Prime Minister will have to respond to the widely-held frustrations about the manner in which this year's election was carried out.

Elections in PNG are never a clean process, and in many ways are a tremendous celebration of the democratic process.

But this election has been marred by pockets of violence, malfeasance, and even the attempted kidnapping of newly elected MPs.

The most critical issue across the country was the poor state of the electoral roll, which independent observers have called "alarming".

Tens of thousands of Papua New Guineans were disenfranchised and ineligible to vote after finding their names not on the list.

This is yet another symptom of the cash shortages in government, which led to the Electoral Commission being consistently underfunded in recent years.

Despite the numerous concerns about the conduct of the election, the results have been fascinating.

A legitimate threat to Mr O'Neill emerged in a new coalition, calling itself The Alliance.

Made up of prominent opposition members, former members of Mr O'Neill's ministerial team, and a former prime minister, The Alliance got within striking distance of toppling the Prime Minister.

If they can convince their members, many of whom are independents and first term MPs, to resist the lure of joining the Government and benefiting from lucrative perks, they have the potential to become a force in Parliament.

This would restore some much needed legitimacy to a legislative process that under Mr O'Neill's first term, saw the opposition at one point reduced to three MPs and merely a rubber stamp.

Mr O'Neill has also lost a number of his senior Cabinet ministers in this election.

Despite his thinned ranks, he will need to move fast on the issues that he left behind as he entered the election campaign.

Chief among these will be the fiscal challenges that his Government faces.

The APEC leaders' summit to be hosted in Port Moresby in 2018 and the Bougainville independence referendum in 2019 will also both have to be delicately managed.

And the courts will be overwhelmed with cases contesting the results and legitimacy of the election. The electoral process must be reviewed. He will have to do something to address corruption concerns that are resonating throughout the country.

Adding to these already daunting responsibilities is the ever-present need for MPs to service the unrelenting demands of their constituents.

All of this on top of the ever-present challenge of steering Papua New Guinea onto a more stable development path.

Australia needs to be a good neighbour

And where does Australia fit within all of this?

Mr O'Neill is a known entity to our politicians and bureaucrats, and we have a strong working relationship with him.

Our obsession with Manus Island, combined with the shrinking role that our aid program plays in the country, has dramatically reduced our influence in the country.

We should work in partnership to assist our nearest neighbour and former colony to tackle its challenges, as good neighbours should.

Prime Minister O'Neill and his government have an unenviable task ahead of them.

We should all hope that this Government can learn from the challenges of their first term, and find redemption in their second.

Jonathan Pryke is a research fellow in the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute.
The parliament of Papua New Guinea re-elects Peter O'Neill as Prime Minister, ending a chaotic election campaign marred by violence, which analysts fear may continue amid widespread voter unrest.