Approved for Release-Office of the Prime Minister
PRIME Minister Hon. James Marape today welcomed the Opposition’s planned no-confidence vote against his government, urging them to properly fill out the vote-of-no-confidence form before submitting it to the Parliamentary Private Business Committee (PBC).
“We welcome the challenge by the Opposition. Our Constitution provides for a vote-of-no-confidence, and the Opposition is welcome to move one. The prime ministership is not my birthright,” Prime Minister Marape said.
He emphasised his government’s management of the economy over the past five challenging years, stating, “We have managed the economy over the last five tough years, and everyoneknows our record.”
Prime Minister Marape further highlighted the importance of the upcoming parliamentary
proceedings, noting that Members of Parliament will assess the leadership abilities of potential alternate prime ministers when the time comes.
“Section 145 provides for the Opposition to move a vote-of-no- confidence, however, I urge them to get it right this time and not repeat the mistake of not properly filling out the vote-of-no- confidence form as they have done five times already. It seems to be quite obvious that they are doing this deliberately so that the PBC rejects it. This is the strategy of an Opposition that doesn’t have the numbers and wants to create apprehension amongst the public,” Prime Minister Marape stated.
He urged the Opposition to ensure that the form is correctly completed by September 3, citing the significance of upcoming national events such as the Pope’s visit on September 6 and the Independence celebrations on September 16. He also mentioned the planned parliamentary tribute to the late Central Bougainville MP, Hon. Simon Dumarinu, on September 3.
“Parliament is sitting for two weeks, so I urge the Opposition to fill in the vote-of-no-confidence form properly this time. The PBC sits on Wednesdays, so fill in the form properly before 4:06 pm on Tuesday, September 3. On Thursday, it goes on notice, and we come back the following Thursday and deal with it.”
Prime Minister Marape reiterated that the government is not avoiding votes-of-no-confidence and criticised the Opposition’s tactics.
“I want to indicate to the country that the government has not been running away from votes-of-no-confidence, however, this Opposition has the audacity to lie to our people that we are responsible for their failures. Their actions are unbecoming of leaders and are needlessly holding the country to ransom. The Supreme Court ruled that their last failed vote-of-no-confidence was totally flawed and wrong. The Opposition should stop embarrassing themselves and their supporters,” he added.
Prime Minister Marape also stressed the gravity of changing government, particularly one with strong public support, as per Section 63 of the Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC). He pointed out that Pangu Pati’s victory in the 2022 National General Election, where it won 39 seats, was the highest ever by a political party since the OLIPPAC’s inception in 2002.
“If you want to change a mandated government, do it properly, not making mistakes like little school boys. I am also yet to see credible policies by the alternate government. Pangu wants to take back more from the resources of our country. We have so many reforms going on with the good policies of my government. I challenge the alternate government to come up with better policies,” Prime Minister Marape concluded.
