Papua New Guinea in 1986: Preelection Mobilization and Some Nationalism

Abstract

I have argued elsewhere that the deposition of the Somare government on November 21, 1985, through a vote of no-confidence, was effected primarily to obtain for the winners, and simultaneously to deny to the losers, access to state resources and opportunities on the eve of an election.1 The impending 1987 national elections constituted the dominant factor in Papua New Guinea (PNG) domestic politics in 1986. The influence of the impending elections on the behavior of members of the government was noticeable in several areas. First, the rigorous exploitation of opportunities of office often placed the ministers in conflict of interest situations. Second, intracoalition rivalry and disagreements came to the fore. Prime Minister Pias Wingti had vowed to lift the standard of leadership and probity and was offered many opportunities to add to his reputation for courage and decisive leadership. There were both promise and risk in this for Wingti. He could improve the chances of his party, the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), in the 1987 elections by taking a high-minded, no-nonsense approach to the problem of enormous indiscipline in PNG public life. But he led a brittle, prickly coalition of five parties and several independent MP's, which make such an approach difficult. The composition of this coalition and the highly fragmented party system, in which there was not much regard by MP's for party discipline or loyalty, virtually guaranteed that Wingti would falter on insisting on