Samuel Tei Abal (born 26 June 1958) is a

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 ...

n politician. Abal, who previously served as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from August 2007 to December 2010, became the Deputy Prime Minister of the country in a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

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 ...

on 7 December 2010. He further became acting

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea The prime minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Prai Minista bilong Papua Niugini) is Papua New Guinea's head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National P ...

on 13 December 2010, when Prime Minister Somare stepped down from office to face a tribunal regarding allegations of financial mismanagement. His tenure as acting Prime Minister ended on 2 August 2011, when

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 ...

won a parliamentary vote to be appointed as Prime Minister. Since October 2021, he is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Papua New Guinea to Japan.

Biography

Personal life

Abal is the son of Sir

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 ...

, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Papua New Guinea.

Political career

Abal was a member of the

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 ...

representing the

Wabag Wabag is the capital of Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. It is the least populous provincial capital in the country. It is on the Lai River; the Highlands Highway passes through the town, between Mount Hagen and Porgera. Europeans first visited th ...

Electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

Enga Province Enga is one of the provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is located in the north most region of the highlands of PNG, having been divided from the Western Highlands to become a separate province when the provinces were created at the time of in ...

. Prime Minister Michael Somare appointed Abal, his then

, as his new Deputy Prime Minister in a cabinet reshuffle on 7 December 2010. Abal was informed of the impending reshuffle prior to the appointment while attending a mining conference in Sydney, Australia, with Prime Minister Somare. Somare removed his previous Deputy Prime Minister,

Don Polye Don Pomb Polye (born 1 February 1967) is a Papua New Guinean politician from Enga Province. He has been a Cabinet Minister under two Prime Ministers, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister from July to December 2010. He has held Foreign Affairs, ...

Kandep Kandep is the district headquarters of Kandep District in the southern Enga Province of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guin ...

, from the post in favour of Sam Abal, a close political ally of Somare. A rift had formed between Somare and Polye stemming from an unsuccessful

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against Somare in mid-2010, which was believed to be partially spearheaded by Polye. Somare initiated the reshuffle in preparation for stepping down to face a leadership tribunal. It is alleged that Somare failed to submit

financial statements Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...

between 1994 and 1997 and filed late statements between 1998 and 2004. Under Papua New Guinean law, the prime minister must leave office during the tribunal. The appointment of Abal guaranteed Somare a close ally as acting Prime Minister.

Acting Prime Minister

Somare stepped down as Prime Minister on 13 December 2010. In a prepared statement, Somare stated that "he will now voluntarily step aside and allow the deputy prime minister, Sam Abal, to assume (the) full function and responsibility of the office of prime minister while he attends to clearing his name." Abal was sworn into office the same day and served as the acting Prime Minister during Somare's tribunal and short suspension. Abal once again became acting Prime Minister in April 2011 when Prime Minister Somare flew to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

for heart surgery. Somare remained in hospital in Singapore in intensive care until his retirement from office in late June 2011. In June 2011, the body of a woman was found in the garden of his home in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. His son Teo, "allegedly the last person to be seen with the woman", went missing at that time, and was found and arrested two days later by the police, as the prime suspect. Sam Abal "moved into a local hotel" as his home had become a crime scene. As of 28 June 2011, it was unclear whether Abal would become the full-time Prime Minister following Somare's retirement from politics for health reasons. A spokesman for Michael Somare's son,

Arthur Somare Arthur Somare is a former Member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG). He represented the electorate of Angoram Open in East Sepik province for the National Alliance Party (Papua New Guinea), National Alliance Party from 1997 until ...

, said that "the political process will take its course" and decide Abal's political future. Abal had been Somare's deputy before serving as acting Prime Minister.

2012 election

In 2012, Abal became the deputy Opposition Leader upon the retirement of opposition leader, Dame

Carol Kidu Dame Carol Anne Kidu ( Millwater; born 10 October 1948), also known as Carol, Lady Kidu, DBE, is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician. Kidu was the only female Member of Parliament in the 2002–2007 and 2007–2012 National Parl ...

. In June 2012, the ''

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier The ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' is a newspaper based in Konedobu, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was established on 30 June 1969. Its parent company, The Herald and Weekly Times (later purchased by News Corp Australia), had acquired wha ...

'' reported that Abal would run for re-election in the 2012 general election as a political independent. Abal stated he had lost faith in country's political party system, which had led to chaos and gridlock in the government. However, he lost his seat to People's Party candidate

Robert Ganim Robert Sandan Ganim (born 6 June 1962) is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2017, representing the electorate of Wabag Open for the People's Party (2012-2017) and the Peopl ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Abal, Sam Deputy Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea Foreign Ministers of Papua New Guinea Living people 2011–2012 Papua New Guinean constitutional crisis Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea National Alliance Party (Papua New Guinea) politicians People from Enga Province Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea 1958 births