The first successful motion of no confidence (MONC) against a Prime Minister was in March 1980 - a mere
five years after independence in 1975.

It happened a little over two years after our first postindependence
national election in 1977.
Our founding PM, Mr Michael Somare (later Sir) was voted out of office on 11 March 1980. PM Somare
was replaced by his Finance Minister Mr Julius Chan (now Sir) and firebrand Chimbu leader, Mr Iambakey
Okuk becoming the Deputy PM.
The tenure of Mr Chan as PM was short-lived. He lost office at the 1982 National Selection when Mr
Somare and his Pangu Pati swept to power. Mr Somare became the Prime Minister once more.
However, Mr Somare’s tenure in office as PM was also short-lived. Mr Somare lost the PM’s seat and
government to Mr Paias Wingti, his young Pangu Pati protégé from Western Highlands Province in our
country’s second successful MONC on 21 November 1985. Mr Wingti was PM until the 1987 National
Election. Mr Wingti and his People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) party were successful in the 1987
election and they formed a coalition government with Mr Wingti as the Prime Minister. However, Mr
Wingti’s tenure in office was short-lived. Mr Wingti lost the PM’s seat and PNG’s third successful MONC
that saw Mr Rabbie Namaliu - who replaced Mr Somare as Pangu Pati leader in an internal leadership
tussle - becoming prime minister in a vote of no confidence on 4th July 1988.
After the 1992 National Election results came in Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu and his Pangu Pati won
22 seat while Mr Paias WIngti and his PDM party won 14 seats out of 109 seats of our Parliament at that
time. Intense lobbying to form the next government ensued between Pangu and PDM and eventually Mr
Wingti mustered enough numbers to be voted in as Prime Minister 17 July 1992 replacing Mr Namaliu.
Since those first three successful motions against our first three prime ministers, all our prime ministers
since have been operating on a survival mode given the ever-present threat of the MONC in Parliament.
Our prime ministers since 1980 have been looking behind their backs in each of their terms in office trying
to figure and take precautions against any MONC move to ouster them. As a result, much of the actions
and inactions of each of the prime ministers have been dictated to by the survival instinct of trying to
mitigate through the threat and survive from the MONC in the end.
In one of those approaches to avoid the MONC, Prime Minister Paias Wingti resigned as PM in 1993 and
was voted into office again 24 hours later as an attempt to go past the 12 months “grace period” deadline
for a MONC can be submitted. This effort backfired on Wingti when the Opposition too the matter up in
the Supreme Court for interpretation. The Supreme Court decided in favour of the Opposition and vote
was taken Parliament in which the Deputy PM to WIngti, Sir Julius Chan this time, received supported
from both the Opposition and Government sides to be voted in as PM on 30 August 1994.
On the hindsight, Mr Wingti would not have taken the action he took and eventually to be found by the
Supreme Court as unconstitutional had there been no presence of the MONC.
The late Sir Mekere Morauta as the “reformist PM” took the government instability caused by the threats
of MONC seriously and managed to ensure Parliament to pass the Organic Law on Integrity of Political
Parties and Candidates (OLLIPAC) by 2001. The OLIPPAC law was aimed curtailing MPs moving from one
political party to another at will especially in the lead up to an MONC. The law prescribed MPs to operate
by their party policies and resolutions when they voted in Parliament on different matters.
Sir Michael Somare as incoming Prime Minister after the 2002 National Election was the first beneficiary
of the OLLIPAC law. Ironically Somare and his National Alliance party replace PM Morauta, the architect
of the OLLIPAC law. The constitutionality of the OLIPPAC law was challenged in the Supreme Court. In
2010 the Supreme Court found elements of the OLIPPAC law were constitutional as it curtailed the
constitutional freedoms of MPs to move and vote according to their conscience. This landmark Supreme
Court decision once had a unwelcomed negating effect with MONC once again on the cards and Somare
lost office from it 2 August 2011. The Supreme Court though decided twice the VONC in 2 August 2011
was invalid as their was no vacancy in the PM’s position as Sir Michael as duly on sick leave and their was
a Acting PM Sam Abal in office. However, the Legislature and under the leadership of Speaker Jeffrey Nape
stood firm in their argument of separation of powers doctrine between the three arms ogf government
and ignored the two Supreme Court decisions.
Over all, our PMs have had a difficult time trying to please all MPs in the coalition (all PNG governments
have been coalitions expect the one that Somare formed after 1982 polls). It has been a serious juggling
act for our prime ministers to run the country as the chief executive officer (CEO) on the one hand and
thens worry about the survival of their positon as PM and the government they lead.
They have also actions, some unsavoury for good governance and stability of government. For example,
the ministerial reshuffles have often been dictated to by the veiled threats that emanate from within the
ranks of the government side of Parliament. Our prime ministers use this to attempt to appease the
anxiety and sentiments and try to please disgruntled parties within the government side.
We just came out of on such episode, although the MONC paper the Opposition presented to the Speaker
Mr Job Pomat was not addressed when the Parliament sat on 16 December 2020 and rose on the same
day. This is now a subject of a Supreme Court reference filed by the Opposition Leader Mr Belden Namah.
My hope is that our 111 MPs do grow up and operate in good fate in Parliament and not to use the MONC
provision in the Constitution willy-nilly to serve sectarian and parochial interests or restore dented egos
or take political revenge, as it were.
The MONC should be the last resort when there is a serious threat in terms of bad governance and
dictatorship and majority of the MPs must mean it to change government. We must not see another of
the disgraceful charade that we saw between 13 November 2020 and 16 December 2020. Our Prime
Ministers must not be unnecessarily pushed to the bring to make poor decisions and take even unlawful
actions just to keep their governments in office.