Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0279/02797.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 38KB | 603 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02797}
$Pretitle{294Q}
$Title{Papua New Guinea
Chapter 3.    Postindependence}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Mark Easton}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{new
percent
government
party
papua
guinea
national
coalition
population
schools}
$Date{1984}
$Log{Inside Spirit Houses*0279701.scf
Outside Spirit Houses*0279702.scf
}
Country:     Papua New Guinea
Book:        Oceania, An Area Study: Papua New Guinea
Author:      Mark Easton
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1984

Chapter 3.    Postindependence

     Perhaps the most significant development during the first year of
independence was the settlement of the Bougainville crisis. Bougainville's
leaders had set September 1, 1975-two weeks before Papua New Guinea's
planned independence-as the date on which Bougainville would secede as the
independent state of the North Solomons Republic. They sent Father Momis to
present their case to the UN, but he received no encouragement there. In
response, just after independence, the Papua New Guinea government abolished
the Bougainville provincial government, freezing its assets and trying to
isolate its leaders. In late 1975 and early 1976 the Bougainvilleans moved
toward violence, and Somare was put under intense pressure to respond in kind
with the armed forces. In August 1976, however, Somare and a few trusted
advisers flew to Rabaul, where they were able to avoid a final violent
confrontation and work out a satisfactory agreement with the Bougainville
representatives. This amounted to giving a newly established provincial
government local taxing power sufficient to provide for community schools and
recreation and local and village government and courts. In addition, the
provincial government received a say in the management of major resources.
Bougainville, or North Solomons, as was its preferred name, was given a grant
of K5 million (for value of the kina-see Glossary) to establish the provincial
government, to which Alexis Sarei was elected premier.

     This led to high expectations in other provinces that they too could
establish local administrative bodies, and the August 1976 budget-the first
after independence-included provisions for a number of individual grants to
the provinces, at K50,000 each, to initiate planning for their respective
provincial governments. An additional K100,000 was provided to each to pay for
rural development projects, and in January 1977 the budget allotted to all
provinces 1.25 percent of the value of their exports.

     Father Momis was given the portfolio for decentralization after the 1977
elections to the legislature-renamed the National Parliament at independence.
Organic laws and the necessary amendments to the Constitution to allow for
provincial government were passed shortly thereafter. By late 1977 nine of the
20 provinces had interim or fully elected provincial governments in operation,
and the Somare government fully supported decentralization. At the same time,
Father Momis, who had done so much to promote provincial government, became
concerned about allegations of financial mismanagement in certain provinces
and prepared legislation giving the National Parliament the right to suspend
provincial governments.

     The Pangu Party organization had weakened somewhat by the 1977 elections,
but Somare himself retained sufficient power to help selected Pangu Party
candidates, and he campaigned widely. Of the 82 candidates the party endorsed,
38 won seats in the National Parliament. People's Progress Party leader Julius
Chan was able to capitalize on his role in keeping the national currency -
retaining its value even after Australian devaluation. His party increased its
representation in parliament to 20. Guise resigned as governor general to
campaign and was succeeded by another Papuan, Tore Lokoloko. The United Party
sought an alliance with Guise as its leader, giving rise to rumors of an
anti-Somare coalition. Somare prevailed, however, assembling a coalition with
the People's Progress Party, nine independents, and two members of a regional
party in the Gazelle for a total of 69 supporters.

     The contradictions within the opposition were significant. The opposition
consisted of secessionists from the Papua Besena Party, regionalists such
as John Kaputin, and members of the United Party, which continued to be
staunchly committed to national unity. The opposition was also split between
radicals and conservatives, and certain of its members had strong personal
animosities.

     Similar divisions also were apparent to a lesser degree in the ruling
coalition. The Pangu Party was more radical than its partner, the People's
Progress Party, and within the Pangu Party itself there was a strong division
between radical and moderate wings. Lacking the cement of a cohesive ideology,
portfolios were again divided by party; the cabinet was then expanded to 22
ministries to allow for the broadest regional basis.

     In 1978 tensions within the ruling coalition were heightened when Father
Momis and some of the more "radical" members of the Pangu Party convinced
Somare to propose restrictions on the financial activities of ministers,
senior public servants, and other officials in order to control apparent
conflicts of interest. Somare's coalition partner, Chan, criticized the
measures as being too severe, and the new opposition leader, Iambakey Okuk,
asserted that the measures were contrary to Highlander views of leadership,
which required that "big men" (traditional leaders) be wealthy and involved in
business. Somare eventually withdrew the proposal but thereafter consulted
less with the People's Progress Party and later even downgraded its
portfolios. In November 1978 Chan withdrew his party from the coalition.
Somare then moved to co-opt part of the United Party, offering to give the
faction five portfolios if it would enter the coalition. Once again he was
able to defeat a vote of no confidence, although at the price of losing some
of his most talented ministers, who were members of the People's Progress
Party.

     Somare at times had indicated his desire to give up the ceaseless and
exhausting task of trying to keep the governing coalition together and to run
the country. A number of cabinet ministers habitually defied directives, and
politicians from the various parties engaged in continuous scheming to form a
new government. His problems grew severe in 1979 and early 1980. The left wing
of the Pangu Party sought to see one of its members replace him, and the
opposition strove to recruit parliamentarians to form a new coalition while
mounting a systematic attack against alleged government inefficiency,
corruption, and waste. A breakdown in law and order in the Highlands in 1979
resulted in the government's promulgating emergency decrees that were
interpreted as anti-opposition because the opposition had strong Highlander
support. In another incident the justice minister, who had challenged the
authority of the Supreme Court, was sentenced to eight months in jail for
contempt, only to be released by Somare-upon which four of the seven Supreme
Court justices resigned.

     In January 1980 Somare again reshuffled the coalition, dropping one
minister and changing the portfolios of Father Momis and Kaputin. As a result,
a majority of United Party members as well as Father Momis and Kaputin
left the government, the latter two forming a new party called the Melanesian
Alliance. Composed of seven members from North Solomons and East New Britain
provinces, the Melanesian Alliance then began negotiations with the
opposition to form a new government.

     On March 11, 1980, Chan took over as prime minister, defeating Somare by
a vote of 57 to 49 in the National Parliament. Okuk became deputy prime
minister. The new coalition was largely drawn from groups having regional
bases (the Melanesian Alliance, the Papua Besena Party, and the National
Party) plus a number of dissidents from the former coalition, including the
People's Progre