Dede Sophie

The stage is set for the Hela Province to declare its second PANGU Member elect for the eleventh National Parliament tomorrow.  Magarima Open election counting is on cue for declaration, exactly seven days after Prime Minister James Marape was declared as M-P elect for Tari Pori.  Returning Officer Simon Olaiva, suspended counting into the elimination exercise, before 5 PM this afternoon, after the 15th exclusion of Peter Pipon. After the 15th exclusion, PANGU Party candidate and incumbent M-P Manasseh Makiba still maintain his lead with 14, 301 votes.  This is followed by Independent candidates, Wakinda Benson on 8, 330, followed by Paul Agiru on 7, 823 votes, and Tony Panda with 6, 901 votes.  The second and third preference votes for candidate Peter Pipon, will be shared among the remaining four candidates tomorrow when counting resumes.  Mr. Olaiva said that he is confident that a declaration will be made by then.  Meanwhile, Counting for the Komo Hulia Open seat is also into elimi...

 PNG Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has asked both Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) and Puma Energy to find solutions to the strenuous business relationship they have that is now becoming a national security issue and a cause for concern about functioning of the economy.  He said the case of Puma being unable to maintain the supply of fuel products to its customers was because of ongoing issues with BPNG, for which the country was being held to ransom. PM Marape has asked BPNG, immediately after an urgent National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) today (January 5, 2023), to find a short-term solution by lifting restrictions on Puma so that their supply of fuel products continue without compromising Central Bank’s fiduciary requirements. “I want to also inform the country and business that today, the Bank has the highest-ever level of foreign reserves (FX) of more than K13 billion – more than enough for a year,” he said. “That’s because my Government’s fiscal policies assisted in rai...