Leader dispels doubts he would go through with his promise to go as MPs prepare to vote for new PM

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, Peter O’Neill, has ended days of uncertainty by formally announcing his resignation on the floor of parliament on Wednesday.

O’Neill, who has led the country since 2011, first said he would resign at a media conference on Sunday after the defections of a number of high-profile ministers, saying there was a mood for change.

However, in order for O’Neill’s resignation to come into effect, he needed to visit the governor general and officially tender his resignation.

O’Neill’s intention to actually resign was called into question in the days following his announcement after he challenged the opposition’s right to table a vote of no confidence in him and his government.

However, as parliament opened on Wednesday, O’Neill gave a speech saying he had visited the governor general at 9.45am. A vote among MPs will be held on Thursday at 10am for a new prime minister of the country.

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Announcing his resignation, O’Neill said: “Mr Speaker, it has been my great honour to serve this nation and lead this nation for almost eight years. We have had some profound accomplishments during our term in government, through a policy agenda that has almost transformed the nation.”

O’Neill said that while his party was “mandated by the people in the 2011 election to form government … unfortunately politics in PNG plays out this way” and said that for the sake of stability and to create confidence in the business community “it is important that I vacate this seat, so that we can be able to move on.”

O’Neill thanked the people of PNG for the chance to serve as their leader and said his achievements included the country’s hosting of the Apec summit last year and the expansion of the health and education sectors.

“Something that is close to my heart is that we have been able to educate more than a million children, enabling them to attend schools right throughout the country, through our free education program. But most of all our female students, our girls, right throughout the country,” he said.

“We’ve also delivered more infrastructure than in any point in our history … this has enabled freedom for our people and provided opportunities for our people to travel and do business.”

O’Neill added: “We have been able to improve our global image as a country. We have always been known for the wrong reasons and we have done that by strengthening our bilateral relations with our traditional partners and of course, making new friends.”

In resigning his position, rather than waiting for a vote of no confidence to be held, which the opposition tabled on Wednesday, O’Neill opened up the field to any prime ministerial candidate, rather than providing momentum for the opposition’s candidate. The vote is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

The opposition bloc say they have the numbers to ensure their leader, Patrick Pruatich, a former treasure of PNG, will become the next prime minister.

Pruaitch said that, in resigning on Wednesday, O’Neill had “demonstrated leadership”. “Politics are politics, but I can assure you our friendship remains,” he said. “I take my hat off to you … for responding to the wishes of our country.”

On Sunday, O’Neill announced Sir Julius Chan, a former prime minister and elder statesman of the country, as his replacement, something Chan said was a “huge misunderstanding” and not something it was in the power of the prime minister to do.

However, Chan, who is 79 and has held the top job twice before, gave a speech that seemed to be laying the groundwork for a bid to become prime minister.

Chan said: “I have seen times of crisis, times of danger, times of peril, but in more than 50 years, I have never seen the kind of hostility, the kind of division, the kind of, I must use this word, the kind of hatred I have seen in the last week … There is great need for experienced captain and sailors,” he said. “Let us look for an experienced captain to pilot the ship of state into the future.”