The governor general represents the British monarch as head of state and formally appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government, following an election process in Parliament. A law provides that the largest political party emerging from a general election has the first right to nominate a prime minister. While the prime minister’s legitimacy is partly rooted in the conduct of legislative elections, the election of the prime minister by members of Parliament (MPs) is a highly competitive process. Peter O’Neill of the People’s National Congress Party (PNC) resigned in May 2019, after MPs resigned from government positions or sought anti-O’Neill alliances. Parliament selected former finance minister James Marape, who resigned from the O’Neill-led cabinet in April, to succeed him as prime minister in May.

Voters elect members of the unicameral, 111-member National Parliament for five-year terms. A limited preferential voting system allows voters to choose up to three preferred candidates on their ballots.

Serious flaws, including bribery and voter fraud, were reported in the 2017 election. Some areas, notably the Highlands Region, experienced election-related violence that resulted in dozens of deaths, as well as severe property damage. Due to irregularities, election results in the Southern Highlands were released several months late and sparked renewed violence in the town of Mendi once made public. The electoral process was smoother in coastal areas, but those regions were not completely free from irregularities and violence. Allegations of voter roll manipulation that favored the incumbent government were widespread, but most clear abuses were localized in the Highlands. Election observers expressed disappointment that recommendations to clean up voter rolls were disregarded.

Parliamentary seats were ultimately divided among numerous small parties, with the PNC taking nearly a quarter of the total and the National Alliance placing a distant second. Independents made up the third-largest group. A dispute over a 2017 parliamentary race was addressed in October 2019, when a Supreme Court panel agreed to stay a recount for a seat; this allowed its sitting PNC MP to remain in Parliament.

Local elections were held in Papua New Guinea in July and August 2019, and were similarly marred by fraud, violence, and voter intimidation.

The electoral law, which requires voters to rank three candidates on a preferential ballot, is fair but complex to administer. The voter rolls are poorly maintained. At the local level, election management bodies are chronically lacking in independence, particularly in the Highlands. Irregularities do not necessarily benefit incumbents, more than half of whom usually lose their seats at elections.

Electoral officials have also been accused of corruption in recent years. Electoral official Terence Hetinu was arrested on suspicion of fraud in 2017 after he was found carrying cash and marked ballot papers. Commissioner Patilias Gamato later claimed that was Hetinu was carrying funds for electoral operations, but Gamato himself was arrested in October 2019 on charges of corruption, money laundering, and conspiracy. In December, his bail was revoked and he was taken into custody after he was accused of interfering with witnesses.

Political parties are able to form and operate freely, but many candidates run as independents and join factions only after reaching Parliament. Electoral loyalties are driven by local and personal factors at the constituency level. MPs frequently switch affiliations and alliances. A law constraining freedom of movement between parties was ruled unconstitutional in 2010.

A large number of MPs joined the Papua and Niugini Union Party (Pangu) in 2019, including Prime Minister Marape, who became its leader in October. By year’s end, Pangu, the oldest party in the country, became Parliament’s largest. The National Alliance, the second-largest parliamentary group after the 2017 election, joined the governing coalition in September 2019.

The law granting the largest party the first opportunity to form a government creates an incentive for parties to register with the Registrar of Political Parties, as does government funding for parties.

The opposition has a reasonable chance of dislodging the government in elections, mass defections, or through a no-confidence vote on the floor of Parliament. Since independence in 1975, only two governments have served out a full five-year term, the Michael Somare-led 2002–07 government and the O’Neill-led 2012–17 government.

The frequency of no-confidence votes has been diminished somewhat by a provision that grants an incoming prime minister an 18-month “grace period.”

Most citizens and candidates are generally free to make political choices without undue interference. However, some local leaders, politicians, and candidate agents control the balloting process, particularly in the Highlands, and complete the ballot papers in bulk—a form of “assisted voting.” As a result, the affected citizens are effectively denied the right to vote.

Although all citizens have equal political rights under the law, women are underrepresented in elected offices. The 2017 election featured the highest number of women candidates ever, but none won legislative seats, and there are currently no women in the 111-seat Parliament. LGBT+ people face societal discrimination that impedes their ability to advocate for their interests in the political sphere.

A 2005 agreement ended a civil war in Bougainville and provided for an independence referendum to be held between 2015 and 2020. While the Autonomous Bougainville Government has been building its own civil service in preparation for the possibility of independence, and laying groundwork for a referendum, central authorities expressed opposition to the island’s possible secession. Over 180,000 people participated in the nonbinding referendum in November and December 2019, and 97.7 percent voted for independence. Papua New Guinean and Bougainville leaders are expected to negotiate on a response to the vote in 2020.

The prime minister heads the government, but cabinet ministers often exert considerable control over their portfolios without necessarily being answerable to the cabinet. There are no powerful external forces that determine the policies of government, though logging and mining companies have been known to court influence. The government has only a limited ability to implement its policies across the country, as the state’s presence in more remote areas is minimal.

Corruption is pervasive and remains the most important hindrance to development. Anticorruption institutions have been subject to political interference. Task Force Sweep was established in 2011 to root out corruption, and it carried out a variety of investigations against politicians, civil servants, and businessmen. However, when the unit turned its attention to millions of dollars’ worth of fraudulent payments to local law firm Paraka Lawyers that were allegedly authorized by O’Neill, he responded by disbanding the task force; when courts ordered its resurrection, the government cut its funding. While police formally dropped the Paraka case against O’Neill in 2018, another warrant was issued in October 2019 on charges of unspecified corruption, only to be withdrawn later that month.

Papua New Guinea also grappled with new incidents of corruption and mismanagement in 2019. In May, the public ombudsman reported that several individuals, including O’Neill and Marape, were implicated in a government loan and subsequent stock purchase that were executed without parliamentary approval. Marape committed to an inquiry after the report was leaked to the public, but the inquiry was delayed in October and again in November; its commissioner blamed the government for providing insufficient funding and for failing to form a legal team for its work. In September, the Australian government warned that it would review its aid program for Papua New Guinea, noting that corruption interfered with aid delivery.

In July 2019, Marape publicly committed to the creation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Legislation to create the agency remained under consideration at year’s end.

Government operations are generally opaque, and the government does not frequently release accurate information about public expenditures, procurement processes, or officials’ assets. Papua New Guinea does not have an access to information law. In May 2019, local nongovernmental organization (NGO) PNG Economics warned that government figures, especially regarding public revenue and expenditure, are often inaccurate and are sometimes manipulated.

Freedom of the press is generally respected. Local media provide independent coverage of the political opposition, as well as controversial issues such as alleged police abuse and official corruption. However, politicians have been known to harass media professionals over negative stories, and journalists can face physical attacks in the course of their work.

In late 2018, a journalist was suspended from state-owned television outlet EMTV over his coverage of government spending during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Port Moresby, but was reinstated under public pressure. EMTV’s current affairs director, Neville Choi, was dismissed in August 2019; staff claimed Choi was removed after EMTV covered a pay strike held by soldiers outside the prime minister’s residence that February. Choi was reinstated later in August.

Religious freedom is generally upheld. There have been reports of larger churches criticizing newer and smaller groups, and of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has accompanied the arrival of Muslim refugees, but no major infringements on religious liberty have been alleged in recent years.

Academic freedom is generally respected, though the police have at times violently suppressed student demonstrations on campus.

There are no major constraints on the expression of personal views. However, a 2016 cybercrime law allows the prosecution of people who publish defamatory material or incite violence on social media, raising concerns that it could be misused to punish legitimate speech.

The constitution provides for freedom of assembly. However, marches and demonstrations require 14 days’ notice and police approval, and authorities sometimes deny permits. Police have used force to suppress demonstrations by asylum seekers on Manus Island.

A number of NGOs operate in the country, including groups focused on human rights and environmental causes, as well as some that provide social services. Most are small and lack resources, but they are otherwise free of serious constraints on their activities.

Workers’ rights to strike, organize, and engage in collective bargaining are largely respected. However, the government has frequently imposed arbitration in labor disputes to avert strikes, and protections against antiunion discrimination are unevenly enforced. Most workers are employed in the informal sector and lack access to union protections.

While successive governments have exerted political pressure on the court system, the judiciary is generally independent. Judges are appointed by the largely apolitical Judicial and Legal Services Commission and cannot be removed arbitrarily. Laypeople sit on village courts to adjudicate minor offenses under customary and statutory law. In recent years, the higher courts have repeatedly demonstrated their impartiality by ruling against the government and its political interests.

Constitutional guarantees of due process are poorly upheld. Arbitrary detention is relatively common, and opportunities to challenge such abuses are limited in practice. A shortage of trained judicial personnel is a key cause of lengthy detentions and trial delays.

Law enforcement officials have been implicated in brutality and corruption. Prison conditions are poor, and the correctional service is understaffed. Prison breaks are common. Lack of economic opportunities exacerbates social unrest, frequently resulting in violent clashes, injuries, and deaths. An Australian police assistance program exists, but its officers lack powers of arrest and are restricted by a 2005 court ruling that removed immunities from prosecution under local law.

Tribal violence and so-called “payback” attacks are common in the Highlands Region. Several such attacks occurred in 2019, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 people in the Southern Highlands and Hela Province in the middle of the year. In one July attack, 16 people, including two pregnant women and several children, were killed in the Southern Highlands village of Karida.

Score Change: The score declined from 2 to 1 due to a long-term increase in tribal violence in the country’s highlands, punctuated by a massacre of 16 women and children in July.

The constitution guarantees equality regardless of race, tribe, religion, sex, and other categories, but various forms of discrimination are common in practice. Same-sex sexual relations are a criminal offense that can draw up to 14 years in prison, though the relevant laws are rarely enforced. There is some discrimination against people of Chinese origin, which is mainly linked to resentment toward a growing Chinese business presence that is viewed as disadvantaging other groups. Women face legal discrimination in employment in addition to societal biases. Allegations of sorcery have been used to target women for violence.

Australia paid the Papua New Guinean government to accept asylum seekers who arrived in Australian waters by boat. Those who were not granted refugee status or did not agree to settle in Papua New Guinea were left in limbo, with Papua New Guinea’s government claiming that these people are Australia’s responsibility. The Australian government has been reluctant to allow refugees to enter Australia, but some have been sent to the United States as part of a deal between the US and Australian governments.

In 2016, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled that Australia’s Manus Island detention center was unconstitutional, and the facility officially closed in 2017. Many remained in the facility for several years, amid reports of poor living conditions, violence, and poor health. After a Manus Island resident set fire to their accommodation while attempting suicide in June 2019, the authorities moved some residents classified as nonrefugees to Port Moresby, but 53 of these people were subsequently detained in another facility in August. Later in August, the government offered accommodation in Port Moresby to Manus Island’s remaining refugees, and the vast majority of residents traveled to the city by year’s end.

Freedom of movement is somewhat restricted in the Highlands; survivors of tribal violence are known to restrict domestic travel or go into hiding in the immediate aftermath of skirmishes and attacks, and as many as 2,000 people were internally displaced during acts of violence in mid-2019. Travelers in Port Moresby are subject to roadblocks, where authorities check the registration of their vehicles. Movement is also restricted for refugees and asylum seekers who resided on Manus Island and in Port Moresby.

Score Change: The score declined from 3 to 2 due to internal travel restrictions and displacement associated with increased tribal violence.

In Papua New Guinea, 97 percent of the land area is theoretically under customary tenure, but Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABLs) have been used to facilitate land grabs by unscrupulous investors. In 2013, a government commission found that most active SABLs were illegal, and recommended their cancellation. In 2017, former premier O’Neill claimed that all SABLs were canceled, but the lands and physical planning minister acknowledged in 2018 that most SABLs were still being contested in court. Many SABLs remained in place in 2019, with local activists warning that large-scale logging was ongoing on land covered by the scheme.

Women face disadvantages regarding property rights and inheritance, particularly under customary law.

The law provides some protections for individual rights on personal status matters like marriage and divorce, but early or forced marriage remains a problem, and legislation meant to combat widespread family violence and aid victims is poorly enforced. About two-thirds of partnered women have experienced physical abuse, according to multiple studies. Abortion is illegal except when it is necessary to save the woman’s life.

Legal safeguards against exploitative working conditions are weakly enforced, and frequent abuses in sectors including logging and mining have been reported. The government does not actively prosecute human traffickers, and efforts to identify victims are inadequate. The US Labor Department has previously assembled evidence of child labor in the coffee, cocoa, palm oil, and rubber sectors, as well as in commercial sexual exploitation.

In the 2019 edition of its Trafficking in Persons Report, the US State Department reported that bride-price payments facilitated labor and sexual exploitation. The department also reported that women and children were often ensnared in sex trafficking or forced servitude after they were promised legitimate education or employment opportunities.