Parliament passes major amendments

The National Government has used its numerical strength to pass two important Constitutional Amendments this afternoon.

The first is an amendment to Section 1-4-5 of the Constitution, which gives an 18 months grace period to the Prime Minister, when an unsuccessful Vote of the Confidence Motion, is moved against him or her.

Parliament voted 81 votes to 4, in favour of the amendment, while the second one, which recognizes PNG as a Christian Country was also passed with the same margin.

Justice Minister and Attorney General Pila Niningi, when speaking after the passing, thanked Parliament for successfully passing these amendments.

The four who voted against these amendments include Deputy Opposition Leader James Nomane, East Sepik Provincial MP Allan Bird, Central Provincial MP, Rufina Peter and Abau MP, Sir Puka Temu.

Another Bill also passed was the National Petroleum Authority Bill 2025 which now establishes the National Petroleum Authority.

A vote of 84 to nil effected this in an absolute majority voting today.

Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Jimmy Maladina who tabled the bill in Parliament said this is part of the Marape-Rosso government’s reform in the petroleum sector in strengthening the key institutions.

When tabling the Bill Mr Maladina said this will now bring confidence into the sector through production sharing among others.