James Marape Returns As Premier Of Papua New Guinea

James Marape was re-elected as the prime minister of Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, weeks after general elections were held in the Pacific nation.

At least 80 newly elected lawmakers voted for Marape, who became the prime minister in 2019 after his predecessor Peter O'Neill lost the confidence of the parliament.

He was later officially sworn in as ninth premier of the island nation at Governor House.

Some 105 members were present on the first day of the new parliament.

Video footage of the parliament sitting showed that Marape was elected unopposed, while O'Neill, the sole rival, walked out of the parliament.

He had petitioned the Supreme Court to halt the sitting of the parliament while counting was still underway for over a dozen seats.

Marape will lead a coalition of at least 17 parties as his PANGU Party won 36 seats, the highest number by any party.

The 18-day general election process had begun last month which saw violence and killings.

Frail communication and lack of facilities make the elections one of the most challenging issues in the country of around 9 million people living on tough terrain across the island nation.

The ethnically diverse country reports one of the worst inter-ethnic conflicts and armed attacks.

As many as 3,625 candidates are running for a five-year term in the 118-seat parliament.

Around 5 million voters were expected to cast ballots at 9,905 designated polling stations comprising 11,066 booths set up across the four regions – Highlands, Momase, New Guinea Islands, and Southern Region. -