The Chief Steps Down

I Papua New Guinea

Michael Somare, hailed as the father of PNG independence, resigns as

head of the Pangu Pati he founded in 1967.

By Carson Creagh

Michael Somare, Papua New

Guinea’s most widely respected politician and the man hailed as the father of his country’s independence, chose a significant moment to resign as Opposition leader and head of the Pangu Pati he founded.

This month marks the 21 st birthday of Pangu an anniversary that in the West marks the transition from youth to re sponsible adulthood. In 1967, a newly emerged educated elite saw the need (and opportunity) for a political entity that would force the pace of self-determination and eventual independence from Aus tralia. At the head of that movement was a young teacher who had seen some of the most momentous events in PNG’s his tory; the destruction of the Australian Ad ministration as Japanese troops drove the mastas from their homes; the return of a governing corps that had been shaken by the exposure of its vulnerability; the emergence of the Third World as an inter national force; and the admission by Aus

tralian authorities that independence, once considered a matter for the 21st century, was a matter of greater priority.

Central to many of those events was a man who moved with intelligence, assur ance and ambition between traditional so ciety and the demands of Western democracy. Michael Somare brought a talent honed in the fierce debates and last ing rivalries of village politics to the broader sphere of economic and social de velopment. the longstanding Papuan- Flighlander tussle for power, and the cre ation of PNG as a focus for Melanesian re gional primacy.

His decision to resign as head of Pangu Pati had been foreshadowed by months of instability in PNG politics: the continuing uncertainty of a government surviving constant threats of votes of no confidence only through unceasing negotiation; the looming presence of Ted Diro and his des tabilising Papuan bloc; and not least the ambition and readiness to assume lead

ership of his young deputy, former For eign Minister Rabbie Namaliu.

As Pacific Islands Monthly went to press, negotiations were continuing in Port Moresby to resurrect the Grand Coalition that offers PNG its only hope of restoring stable government. Mr Somare is believed to have called on Prime Minister Paias Wingti to select the “best and brightest” from the Pangu Pati, the Papuan bloc, the People’s Democratic Party, the National Party, the PPP and the Melanesian Alli ance to form a Government that would have the effect of restoring stable leader ship and sealing the fate of Mr Diro’s con tinuing bid for influence. Essential to all these considerations are Mr Somare’s in sistence on altering the Constitution to ex clude the danger of a vote of no confidence every six months, and his ability to give the Coalition the numbers it needs. Sources say Mr Somare is willing to complete his four-year term as PNG’s Foreign Minister, with Mr Namaliu taking the Deputy Prime Ministership under Mr Wingti. □