General elections were held in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

between 18 June and 9 July 1977, the first since independence from Australia in 1975. The

Pangu Party The Pangu Pati, also known as the Pangu Party or Papua and Niugini Union Pati, is a political party in Papua New Guinea. As of September 2019, the party had 23 of 111 seats in the National Parliament. History The party was founded in June 1967 ...

led by Prime Minister

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

emerged as the largest in the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. Somare subsequently formed a coalition government with the

People's Progress Party The People's Progress Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded on 11 November 1969 by Julius Chan and Warren Dutton, forming a caucus of eleven members of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea. Following independ ...

(PPP) and several independent MPs. Voter turnout was 60.3%.

Background

The usual four-year term of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

was extended to five years shortly before independence, pushing back elections to the renamed National Parliament from 1976 to mid-1977. However, in June 1976 Prime Minister

proposed holding early elections in November 1976. Although the proposal was approved by a vote of 45 to 40 in parliament, at least half of the 104 MPs were required to vote in favour for the motion to pass. Prior to the elections, the electoral system was changed from

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

Campaign

Just under 900 candidates contested the elections, with between two and 21 candidates in each constituency. Ten candidates were women. Polling in the Abau Open constituency was postponed due to the death of a candidate.PNG's elections: A cliffhanger and a lesson for the future
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1977, pp16–17

Results

Three women –

Nahau Rooney Nahau Rooney (born in 1945 on Manus Island – died 15 September 2020 in Port Moresby) was a Papua New Guinean politician. From 1977 to 1987 she was a member of the newly founded post-independence National Parliament of Papua New Guinea. Early ...

Waliyato Clowes Waliyato Clowes is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 1977 to 1982, representing the Middle Fly Open electorate in Western Province. Clowes was a school teacher before entering pol ...

and

Josephine Abaijah Dame Josephine Abaijah, (born 23 June 1940) is a Papua New Guinean former politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Assembly in 1972. Biography Born in Misima and one of 17 children, Abaijah began working in the Departm ...

– were elected, a number not repeated until

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

.Sepoe, Orovu, "To make a difference: Realities of women’s participation in Papua New Guinea politics", Development Bulletin, no. 59, 2002, p.40.
Electronic version
) Nine ministers lost their seats, a number that increased to ten when Reuben Taureka was defeated in the delayed contest in Abau. Following the elections, most of the independents joined parties at the first sitting of parliament, with Pangu gaining a further ten seats, the PPP four and Papua Besena and the United Party one, leaving eleven members sitting as independents.

Aftermath

Following the elections, Michael Somare was elected Prime Minister, defeating John Guise (who was supported by the United Party) by 69 votes to 36. Somare established a coalition government of the

, the

and some independent members, forming an 18-member cabinet. Kingsford Dibela was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

and

Tei Abal Sir Tei Abal (1932? – 1994) was a member of the parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between 1964 and 1982, during which time he both served as a government minister in several positions and was leader of the opposition. He was known as an un ...

of the United Party became Leader of the Opposition.Somare leads a new look team
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1977, p9 Later in 1977, Somare appointed four additional ministers; Yano Belo (PPP) as Minister for Works and Supply, Thomas Kavali (Independent) as Minister for Housing, Karl Kitchens as Minister for Minerals and Energy and

(Independent) as Minister for Corrective Institutions and Liquor Licensing.Somare's team grows
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1977, p20 Rooney became the first woman to hold a cabinet portfolio in Papua New Guinea.

Background

Campaign

Results

Aftermath

See also

References

Related links