Gelu said if any of the 87 members of Parliament who voted the current prime minister into office backed a no confidence motion, they would have to leave the coalition and become subject to a possible investigation for breach of political integrity laws.
He added it was a waste of time for politicians to attempt a vote of no confidence because a provision in Section 72 of the OLIPAC — the Organic Law on Political Parties and Candidates — did not allow for this.
“Provision 72 in the OLIPAC clearly states that the 87 MPs that voted Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare into office cannot vote against him in a vote of no-confidence, the passage of the national budget and major constitutional amendments,” Gelu said.
“In this sense the prime minister is protected by the OLIPAC. People or individuals who are thinking that the National Alliance government and Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare can be removed easily through a vote of no confidence are mistaken. There is a provision in Section 72 of the OLIPAC that protects the prime minister from a vote of no confidence,” Gelu said.
The law, however, does not stop the individual MPs from leaving the NA coalition, Gelu said.
But he added that the MPs after signing party resolutions to support the prime minister are subject to investigation by the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and Candidates and referred to the Ombudsman Commission for breaching the OLIPAC.
Gelu offered the comments in reaction to recent media statements about a possible reshuffle of ministers after the 18 months grace period of a government and a possible split in the ruling National Alliance Party and replacement of Deputy Prime Minister Puka Temu.
“These may be non-issues as per the comments from the prime minister as well as from the president of the National Alliance Party and also denial by the deputy prime minister of meeting with the opposition who also denied knowledge of such a meeting,” Gelu said.
He said PNG is experiencing a different level of political stability which is bringing gains for PNG in terms of investment and continuity.
He added that Section 145 did not warrant a vote of no confidence because the Parliament had confidence in the Prime Minister.
“Here you have the Prime Minister saying that the Government is intact, there is no corruption or scandal that warrants a vote of no confidence in the Government,” Dr Gelu said.
If politicians were pushing for a vote of no confidence than they must have a genuine reason for it, Dr Gelu said. Otherwise he said previous experiences in the 80s of frequent votes of no confidence had resulted in important government policies and initiatives not being implemented and lack of service delivery to the rural people.
The Prime Minister also urged speculators in a statement on Sunday to get a full understanding of the integrity on political parties and candidates law before “mouthing off” to the media.
