The People's United Assembly is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 formed in March 2012 by six sitting MPs, including Southern Highlands Governor

Anderson Agiru Anderson Pawa Agiru (died 28 April 2016) was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was the Governor of Southern Highlands Province from 1997 to 2002 and 2007 to 2012 and the Governor of Hela Province from its creation in 2012 until his death. His po ...

, Pomio MP

Paul Tiensten Paul Tiensten (born 1966) is a former Papua New Guinean politician and former Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, 2007-2012, National Alliance Member of Parliament for Pomio Open. Tiensten is currently serving a nine-year sente ...

, Middle Rami MP Ben Semri, Kagua Erave MP James Lagea, and two others, with a ten-point policy platform. Agiru was selected as the leader of the new party. One such policy was the increased decentralisation of power away from Port Moresby, empowering district authorities and local level authorities. It was officially registered in May 2012, becoming the last new party to be registered in time for the 2012 election. The party was loyal to ousted National Alliance

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 is not ...

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 ...

during the election, labelling him the legitimate Prime Minister. Somare pledged to work with them and was the keynote speaker at a campaign event. Three MPs were returned under their banner: Agiru, Tiensten, and new candidate

Ati Wobiro Ati or ATI may refer to: * Ati people, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines **Ati language (Philippines), the language spoken by this people group ** Ati-Atihan festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines *Ati language (China), a ...

(Western Provincial); Lagea was also returned, variously reported as an independent or for the party. Following the clear victory 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 ...

at the election, they pledged support to his government, citing a desire for stability. Tiensten was sentenced to nine years in jail for misappropriation in March 2014. In October 2014, Lagea defected to the People's National Congress. Agiru died in April 2016. Wobiro was sentenced to ten years in jail for misappropriation in November 2016.

References

Political parties in Papua New Guinea 2012 establishments in Papua New Guinea Political parties established in 2012 {{PapuaNewGuinea-party-stub