| Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea | |
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| Praim Minista bilong Papua Niugini (Tok Pisin) | |
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| Style | The Honourable |
| Status | Head of government |
| Abbreviation | PM |
| Member of | |
| Seat | Port Moresby |
| Nominator | National Parliament |
| Appointer | Governor-General |
| Term length | No fixed term length |
| Precursor | Chief Minister of Papua and New Guinea |
| Inaugural holder | Michael Somare |
| Formation | 16 September 1975 |
| Deputy | Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea |
| Salary | PGK346,037/US$ 97,201 annually (2015)[a][1] |
| Website | https://pmnec.gov.pg/ |
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Executive |
Judiciary |
Administrative divisions |
Related topics |
 New Guinea portal |
Theprime minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (Tok Pisin:Prai Minista bilong Papua Niugini) isPapua New Guinea'shead of government, elected by theNational Parliament and formally appointed by theGovernor-General of Papua New Guinea. The prime minister serves as the head of his party, the head of the coalition government, and the chairman of the National Executive Council.
The prime minister is chosen by theNational Parliament and then formally appointed by the governor-general. Section 142 of theConstitution of Papua New Guinea provides for the election of a prime minister to occur at the first meeting of parliament after a general election. In the event of a vacancy in the office, thespeaker of the national parliament must immediately call a meeting of parliament if it is not in session and proceed to the election of a new prime minister.[2]
Where the parliament passes amotion of no confidence in the prime minister in accordance with section 145 of the constitution, the governor-general must dismiss the prime minister from office. The prime minister may also be removed by the governor-general if the parliament determines they are unfit for office on health grounds,[2] or may resign voluntarily in accordance with section 146 of the constitution.[3]
The office of Prime Minister was preceded by theChief Minister of Papua and New Guinea.
From December 2011, the office was disputed betweenPeter O'Neill of thePeople's National Congress Party and SirMichael Somare of theNational Alliance Party; the latter eventually supported O'Neill as Prime Minister on 3 August 2012, thus ending the constitutional crisis.
The Department of the Prime Minister has the task of providing administrative services to the restoration exercise as well as advising the Prime Minister and other government leaders. After a July 1995 cabinet reshuffle byJulius Chan, functions of the department were expanded.[4]
The office of the prime minister and other key government offices were initially located inKonedobu before being relocated toWaigani shortly after independence in 1975. Since April 2024, the Prime Minister's Office has been located at the newly-constructed Melanesia Haus, located opposite the main entrance to theNational Parliament House.[5][6]
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Election | Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 |  | Michael Somare (1936–2021) | 1977 | 16 September 1975 | 11 March 1980 | 4 years, 177 days | Pangu[7][8][9] |
| 2 | .jpg) | Sir Julius Chan (1939–2025) | — | 11 March 1980 | 2 August 1982 | 2 years, 144 days | PPP[7][8] |
| (1) | | Michael Somare (1936–2021) | 1982 | 2 August 1982 | 21 November 1985 | 3 years, 111 days | Pangu[7][8][9] |
| 3 | .jpg) | Paias Wingti (born 1951) | 1987 | 21 November 1985 | 4 July 1988 | 2 years, 226 days | PDM[7][8] |
| 4 | .png) | Sir Rabbie Namaliu (1947–2023) | — | 4 July 1988 | 17 July 1992 | 4 years, 13 days | Pangu[7][8] |
| (3) | | Paias Wingti (born 1951) | 1992 | 17 July 1992 | 30 August 1994 | 2 years, 44 days | PDM[8] |
| (2) | | Sir Julius Chan (1939–2025) | — | 30 August 1994 | 27 March 1997 | 2 years, 209 days | PPP[8][9] |
| 5 |  | John Giheno (1949–2017) | — | 27 March 1997 | 2 June 1997 | 67 days | PPP |
| (2) | | Sir Julius Chan (1939–2025) | — | 2 June 1997 | 22 July 1997 | 50 days | PPP[8][9] |
| 6 |  | Bill Skate (1953–2006) | 1997 | 22 July 1997 | 14 July 1999 | 1 year, 357 days | PNC[8][9] |
| 7 |  | Sir Mekere Morauta (1946–2020) | — | 14 July 1999 | 5 August 2002 | 3 years, 22 days | PDM[9] |
| (1) | | Sir Michael Somare (1936–2021) | 2002 2007 | 5 August 2002 | 4 April 2011 | 8 years, 362 days | NAP[7] |
| — | .jpg) | Sam Abal (born 1958) (acting) | — | 13 December 2010 | 17 January 2011 | 35 days | NAP[7] |
| — | 4 April 2011 | 2 August 2011 | 120 days | ||||
| 8 |  | Peter O'Neill (born 1965) | 2012 2017 | 2 August 2011 | 29 May 2019 | 7 years, 300 days | PNC |
| 9 | .jpg) | James Marape (born 1971) | 2022 | 30 May 2019 | Incumbent | 6 years, 148 days | Pangu |
This is agraphicallifespan timeline of prime ministers of Papua New Guinea. They are listed in order of office (Somare, Chan, and Wingti are shown in order of their first premierships).
