Papua New Guinea in 1992: Challenges for the State

Abstract

The June 1992 elections, the fourth since the independence of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1975, led to a smooth change of government, yet the state itself was under challenge. Most obviously, the secessionist crisis on Bougainville Island continued, but also the reach of the state was declining in the Highlands and some coastal provinces. Armed criminals (raskols) had a relatively free rein in many rural areas, provincial towns, and the capital, Port Moresby. Observers argued that glaring social inequalities and corruption in high places provided a rationalization for raskol activity. Minor riots erupted during the elections. The police, sometimes with help from the Defence Force (PNGDF), sought to reestablish public order using paramilitary means and were several times accused of brutality, especially around the resource projects that are expected to fund a revenue boom in the next few years. The state's political legitimacy among PNG's 13.9 million people has long derived from its capacity to provide security, namely to maintain peace and to deliver basic health and educational services, improved economic conditions, and the prospect of employment for a rapidly growing population. However, the urban infrastructure is failing, and with low real per capita incomes, poor educational and health levels, limited social services, and insufficient employment, PNG ranks only 116th on the U.N. Development Program's Human Development Index. Macroeconomic growth in 1992 was good because minerals exports have grown dramatically in the last two years, but the government's capacity to meet public expectations has declined for a variety of reasons-falling prices for agricultural commodities that support three quarters of the people, pressure on rundown state infrastructure from a rapidly growing population, and the painful restructuring cutbacks initiated after the shutdown of the Bougain-