Sir Michael Somare fielding questions from the crowd at Auckland University in May 2010. (Photo by Jess Harkins.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Selwyn Manning.

UPDATED: Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare survived being ousted from power by political rivals this week after the Speaker of PNG’s Parliament forced The House into recess until November.

Opposition MPs successfully convinced PNG’s Parliamentary Committee that there was good reason to place a vote of no confidence before The House. But when Parliament was in session, the Speaker made a call for Parliament to go into recess. Observers said the majority of MPs objected to the move, but the Speaker ruled that the ayes have it.

At that point the Prime Minister Somare crossed the floor and made for the opposition benches, pointed at a rival MP, Sam Basil, and shouted in pidgin: “I am going to kill you outside.”

Somare was steadied by his son and fellow MP Arthur Somare. Later a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said he did not threaten to kill the MP, but rather said: “You are dead meat”.

The PNG drama occurred after a week of political instability. On Tuesday, armed military and police surrounded Parliament supposedly to ensure order was maintained should a leadership coup be successfully orchestrated. The PNG public was barred from entering Parliament grounds.

The push for a no confidence vote occurred after four of Somare’s government cabinet ministers and the deputy Prime Minister defected to the opposition ranks.

The defection pre-empted an expected push to oust Sir Michael and his party from PNG’s treasury benches.

But those behind the political coup did not move fast enough, and by Tuesday Sir Michael had sured up supporters ensuring he had the numbers to avoid and survive a vote of no confidence in the PNG Parliament.

On Monday night, the Deputy Prime Minister Dr Puka Temu and his supporters expected to overwhelm Sir Michael, weakening his grip on the Melanesian nation’s Parliament. But when the votes were cast, Sir Michael’s government had the support of 60 MPs out of 109. In the end, Temu did not put the vote of no confidence to the test.

ABC news reported Tuesday night that heavily armed PNG troops were patrolling the Parliament precinct. The gates outside Parliament were bolted to prevent the public from entering.

AAP reported Tuesday night that while Sir Michael’s government survived the first wave of a push to unseat it from power, Puka Temu and his supporters are continuing to lobby PNG MPs, seeking the numbers to put a vote of no-confidence before The House on Wednesday.

Under PNG’s Organic Law its Parliament requires a committee to consider a vote of no-confidence and only allow it to be put before The House should the committee be satisfied that the underlying reasons for the vote are justified.

Sir Michael Somare has been PNG’s most dominant figure since the early 1970s. In 1975 Sir Michael became PNG’s first prime minister after independence.

In 2006 at the Pacific Islands Forum in Nadi, Fiji, he announced that the 2006 leaders summit would be the last that he would attend. After Fiji’s multi-party government was removed from power after its military leader Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama conducted a military coup, Sir Michael Somare decided to stay on. Instability in the Solomon Islands, and Australia’s aggressive pursuit of Solomon Islands favoured attorney general, Julian Moti, to face alleged child sex charges, may also have influenced Sir Michael’s decision.

He is considered by many as Melanesia’s stabilising elder statesman. But recent moves by Sir Michael’s government to stifle media debate and reports – debate that examined Chinese mining exploration and exploitation in PNG – created instability among his former supporters.

In May, Sir Michael apologised for referring to anti-corruption campaigners as ‘mentally retarded’.