Big Men Behaving Badly

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On May 27, M.P.s arriving at Parliament were searched for weapons by armed police. The Opposition accused Somare of "resorting to undemocratic ways" but couldn't match the numbers on the government benches. Former diplomat Sir Paulias Matane was elected as Governor-General, but the expected no-confidence motion didn't come. Next day, the government voted to sack Skate as Speaker. Unable to stop the move, most of the Opposition stormed out.

Until Parliament sits again, on June 29, P.N.G. will be run - as it usually is these days - by Cabinet and the courts. The busiest people in Port Moresby are judges, who are now deciding whether the five-month adjournment of Parliament was constitutional, whether Skate breached the Leadership Code when he quit as acting vice-regent, whether Skate's removal as Speaker was proper, and whether Matane or Sir Pato Kakaraya, the winner of the December vote, should be sworn in as the next Governor-General. Urgent issues like poverty, crime and corruption, a looming aids crisis, decaying infrastructure and dwindling investment must wait until Parliament has time for them. Voters are disgusted. Politicians "are just thinking of their own interests," says Southern Highlander Rosemary Bere, 24. "They forget all about the people. Those who are causing instability should leave aside their differences and work together to help the people and strengthen the economy." In that task, says Michael Mayberry, head of the P.N.G. Chamber of Commerce, "uncertainty doesn't help at all." With this government, "not everything is as good as we'd like, but we have seen improvement." The kina is up, and inflation and interest rates are the lowest in 10 years. "If there is going to be a change of government, let's get it over with," Mayberry says. "But if it means we're just going to have the same problems as before, we say don't change."

A problem for those plotting no-confidence votes is that the Somare government has managed to build a fair amount of public confidence. Its ministers are well educated and experienced, and its economic record is relatively good. It is also committed to strengthening laws against corruption and political opportunism. By comparison, the destabilizers are weak. "It's only a handful who are holding us back," Somare says, "and their numbers are getting smaller." Having been toppled by no-confidence votes in his previous two terms as P.M., perhaps Somare is finally developing some immunity to P.N.G.'s "18-month disease."