This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Papua New Guinea has lurched into a new political crisis, after a spate of high-profile resignations by government ministers led to MPs calling a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, Peter O’Neill.

Over the past week MPs from the government and the opposition have been engaged in a dramatic standoff, with groups from both camps in lockdown in two hotels in the capital, Port Moresby. About 1,000 police have reportedly been called in to patrol the city as the commissioner called for calm.

The instability began last week after senior ministers resigned from their roles in the O’Neill-led government and coalition parties citing a growing lack of trust in the prime minister and his failure to consult.

PNG police seek return of almost 300 luxury cars missing after Apec summit Read more

“We’re a Melanesian society, we’re a country of Melanesian consensus-style leadership, not one-man-style dictatorship,” said James Marape, the former finance minister and the first to resign last week.

On Monday evening the opposition group working out of the Laguna hotel in Port Moreseby declared Marape as their prime ministerial candidate.

“We hope under his leadership Papua New Guinea will start to see real changes,” a spokesman for the group said.

Opposition MP Bryan Kramer said the vote of no confidence in O’Neill would be held on Thursday next week. He claimed the numbers were “extremely close”.

A lack of consultation by O’Neill over a $16bn gas deal is among the opposition’s complaints. The expansion deal signed in April includes tax and other arrangements which complainants say are overly generous for the proponents and not favourable for Papua New Guinea. They say a new government would renegotiate the agreement.

On Monday both camps claimed to have a majority. O’Neill said in a statement he was “very confident” of support.

Papua New Guinea security forces attack parliament in row over Apec pay Read more

“This stability has come under threat because of the ambitions of some self-interested individuals who have not clearly outlined their policies to the nation over the past 20 months in any way shape or form,” said O’Neill.

O’Neill has built strong relationships with Australia and New Zealand and has in recent years pushed for close ties with China.

But domestically his leadership has been marred by a poorly handled national health crisis and polio outbreak, corruption allegations, and unpopular spending during Apec, including on luxury cars.

The fate of the prime minister depends partly on whether he has the support of the parliamentary speaker, Job Pomat, said Shane McLeod, researcher at the Lowy Institute.

“If he goes and switches to the opposition camp … they can suspend standing orders to bring on a vote,” McLeod told the Guardian.

Either way, a motion for a vote of no confidence must be on the table for at least a week, and observers expect the earliest date to be Thursday next week.

With alliances so fluid, it appears impossible to predict an outcome. O’Neill has faced and won these votes before. If he loses the new vote he could mount a court challenge to retain power.

O’Neill is widely seen as a “master political operator”, McLeod said. “He’s seen off these challengers before. He has the ability to use all the tools at his disposal to hang on to power.”



