Too many Prime Ministers ?

Our northern neighbour - Papua New Guinea - suffered two convulsions this week.    The northern city of Lae was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake - and the capital, Port Moresby - is suffering a surplus of prime ministers !

It all started when long standing prime minister - Sir Michael Somare - took extended leave to have urgent medical attention in Malaysia.   His absence lingered on and the nation's parliament began to chafe and talk of appointing a replacement.   Legal advice was sought - and on that advice Peter O'Neill was selected by the parliament to replace Sir Michael.

It seemed to be a matter of game, set and rubber, but Sir Michael suddenly returned and the nation's highest legal figure - the Attorney General - ruled that appointing Peter O'Neill was in breach of the constitution - and that legally Sir Michael still held the prime ministers position.

This has certainly tossed the cat amongst the pigeons.   The Papua New Guinea parliament has tried to rectify legalities by passing new laws to validate Peter O'Neils hold on the job and the parliament has split, with factions backing both claimants to the position.

The problem seems to be - who has the final say when a dispute of this nature occurs in a legally independent nation ?

We elect parliaments to run a country and we have a constitution to govern how it is run.  When they conflict , who wins and which has the final say ?

In many other parts of the world we see the outcome of elections when neither side will concede that the other has won a plurality.  Often the only way that gets settled - is by civil war.   Let us hope that Papua New Guinea settles this mess without resorting to guns !

Australia has had the odd constitutional crisis in it's past.   We too managed to find a solution without violence - and right now there is tension in our parliament between two people who each believe that they have the right to sit in the prime minister's chair.

Perhaps - somewhere down the track - we may see a re-play of the New Guinea  scenario in Canberra !