The People's Progress Party is a political party 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 ...
.
It was founded on 11 November 1969 by
Julius Chan
Sir Julius Chan (born 29 August 1939) served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the c ...
and
Warren Dutton, forming a caucus of eleven members of the
House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea
The House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea was the legislature of the territory of Papua and New Guinea from 1964 to 1972. Before 1964, the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea sat from 1951 to 1964 under the Papua and New Guinea Act 19 ...
.
Following independence in 1975, Chan served, while party leader, as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
from 1980 to 1982 and 1994 to 1997. Chan’s second Government was brought down by the
Sandline Affair and the party suffered in the elections that year. Chan and acting Prime Minister
John Giheno lost their seats, and
Michael Nali became the party’s leader in Parliament.
When Chan was not serving as Prime Minister, the party was often a junior partner in a coalition with the
Pangu Party. At the
2002 General Elections, the party won 8 seats, becoming the third largest party. At the
2007 General Election the party lost half of its seats. However, the party’s original leader, Julius Chan, returned to Parliament, and took over the party’s leadership. Chan ran as the opposition candidate for Prime Minister, but received the support of only 21 of the 109 members of Parliament.
The party had 5 members in the 111-seat
National Parliament of Papua New Guinea
The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...
as of September 2019 and was part of the governing coalition of Prime Minister
Peter O'Neill
Peter Charles Paire O'Neill (born 13 February 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. From 2002 until the present he served as Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pan ...
.
Current party leaders
* Sir
Julius Chan
Sir Julius Chan (born 29 August 1939) served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He is Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won the seat in the 2007 national election. He is also the c ...
- Member for
New Ireland Provincial
*
Theodore Zurenuoc - Member for
Finschhafen Open
Former party leaders
*
Michael Nali: Led the party while Chan was out of Parliament. He held various ministerial positions, including Deputy Prime Minister. He switched from his
Mendi Open seat to contest the
Southern Highlands Provincial electorate in the 2007 Elections but did not win.
*Dr
Allan Marat: 2003–2004 - Minister of Trade. Left the party and joined the
Melanesian Liberal Party.
*
Andrew Baing
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
: 2004–2006 - Minister of Fisheries. Dismissed from Parliament for wrong conduct.
External links
Facebook Page
References
{{Papua New Guinean political parties
Political parties in Papua New Guinea
1969 establishments in Papua New Guinea
Political parties established in 1969
*Main