PNG News Updates - Supreme Court rules PNG government illegal

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Supreme Court rules PNG government illegal

Agence France Presse - December 12, 2011

PNG leaders face arrest - The Australian. November 12, 2011
Dying on Australia's doorstep - Sydney Morning Herald. September 9, 2011
PNG exposed as 'dysfunctional blob' - Sydney Morning Herald. September 4, 2011
Ousted PNG leader Michael Somare plans return, claims he is still prime minister- Australian Associated Press. September 1, 2011
PNG government to oust Michael Somare, MP claims - Australian Associated Press. August 30, 2011

Sydney – Veteran leader Sir Michael Somare was reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister on Monday when the Supreme Court ruled the election of Peter O'Neill was unconstitutional, reports said.

In a narrow 3-2 decision, Australian Associated Press said the court found there was no vacancy in the office of prime minister on August 2 when O'Neill took office, and rendered the decision illegal.

"Sir Michael Somare is to be restored to the office of prime minister forthwith," the full bench of the court ruled.

Somare, 76, had been in Singapore undergoing heart surgery when he was deposed by a majority vote of lawmakers after they ruled the premiership vacant due to his prolonged absence because of illness.

At the outset of judgments being read, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia indicated contempt charges will be brought against O'Neill and his lawyer Philip Ame, AAP reported from the capital Port Moresby.

Ame had filed a last minute attempt to dismiss Injia on Friday, citing three affidavits by men who claim to have seen the Chief Justice during a late night rendezvous with Somare's son.

Earlier on Monday, the government had rushed through laws to legalise its dumping of Somare and his government.

Often murky and rife with intrigues and corruption scandals, the political scene of the poverty-stricken but resource-rich Pacific country has been dominated by Somare for decades.

His family had announced his resignation in June without consulting him while he was ill, but when he recovered Somare insisted he was still leader, saying there had "never been any vacancy in the position of prime minister".