The Papua New Guinea Country Party 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 ideological or p ...

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 in 1974.

History

The party was founded by Sinake Giregire in March 1974 in advance of Papua New Guinean independence, drawing members largely from the United Party. The party's policy was largely based on agricultural, resource and other economic development. The conservative Australian Country Party reportedly agreed to provide assistance to the new party. It was involved in the Nationalist Pressure Group in debates surrounding the formation of the

Constitution of Papua New Guinea The law of Papua New Guinea consists of the Constitution, ordinary statutes enacted by Parliament or adopted at independence from overseas (together with their pendant regulations) and judge-made law. Constitution The Constitution is " autochtho ...

. Giregire was defeated by John Guise in a bid to become the first

Governor-General of Papua New Guinea The governor-general of Papua New Guinea () is the vice-regal representative of the Papua New Guinean monarch, currently Charles III, in Papua New Guinea. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch after their nomination by the National ...

in 1975, but the party successfully nominated

Tore Lokoloko Sir Tore Lokoloko (21 September 1930 – 13 March 2013) was a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the second governor-general of Papua New Guinea from 1977 to 1983. He was governor-general during Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee visit t ...

as the second Governor-General in 1977. Giregire lost his seat at the 1977 election. Giregire revived the party for the 2002 election after years of inactivity, with ex-politicians Albert Mokai, Mackenzie Dauge, James Ibras and Bionte Heruo as regional co-ordinators. Giregire described the party's ideology as conservative but "more aggressive in addressing basic fundamentals of the society", specifically targeting the rural population. Former MP Roy Buaki Singeri and rugby star Dekot Koki were also among the party's candidates. Giregire was defeated, finishing third in his seat. Kompiam-Ambium candidate Dickson Maki was the only one to be elected, but declared himself an independent before joining the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

only days after his election. It was relaunched again in October 2006 when MP

Jamie Maxtone-Graham Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and t ...

, formerly from 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 indepen ...

, crossed to the Country Party and accepted the leadership with the support of Giregire. Maxtone-Graham was re-elected for the Country Party in the 2007 election and was joined by Jim Nomane, who won in Chuave Open. Maxtone-Graham and Nomane both crossed to other parties during that term, and Giregire died in January 2012. The party briefly regained a parliamentary seat when Minister for Environment and Conservation Thompson Harokaqveh crossed to the party and assumed the leadership in April 2012. Harokaqveh lost his own seat at the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, but two new MPs were elected at the election: Jeffery Kuave (Lufa Open) and Richard Mendani (Kerema Open). Both MPs defected to the People's National Congress in May 2013. The party did not have parliamentary representation between 2013 and 2017, but party president Nelson Duwabane remained politically active during that time, having been outspoken about legal issues surrounding defecting MPs.

Electoral results

The party contested the 2017 election, and as of May 2019 has 2 seats 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 ...

History

Electoral results

References

Further reading