Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has formally tendered his resignation after losing the support of Parliament during weeks of political turmoil in the South Pacific island nation.

"At 9.35am this morning I delivered to his excellency ... the Governor-General, my letter of resignation," O'Neill told Parliament in Port Moresby on Wednesday to MPs' applause.

He said it was likely he would be replaced on Thursday, drawing a line under a period of political chaos. Parliament adjourned until 10am on Thursday soon after O'Neill finished speaking.

On Tuesday, an opposition bloc working to unseat O'Neill's government elected National Alliance Party leader Patrick Pruaitch as "alternate prime minister". </s> PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has resigned after seven years on the job.

His announcement follows weeks of high profile defections from his government to the opposition.

O’Neill said in a news conference in the capital of Port Moresby that recent movements in parliament have shown a “need for change.”

He handed over his leadership to a former prime minister and current member of parliament, Sir Julius Chan.

On Friday, one of O Neill’s key coalition allies abandoned him. The opposition bloc has since been saying it has 62 lawmakers in its camp, which would give it a majority in parliament.

The resignation will be formalized when O’Neill visits the governor-general, the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II. </s> Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O'Neill has resigned, citing a need for change, after weeks of unrest in the government..

He announced his resignation after seven years at a press conference in Port Moresby on Sunday, and has handed over the leadership to Sir Julius Chan, the ABC reported.

The news follows weeks of turmoil in his People's National Congress party, with several minister and coalition quitting. </s> Peter O’Neill, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, has resigned after weeks of high-level defections from his ruling party.

Mr O’Neill told a news conference in Port Moresby that recent changes to political allegiances in parliament had shown a “need for change”.

On Friday, Mr O’Neill’s opponents said they had mustered enough support in parliament to oust him over a range of grievances including dissatisfaction with Mr O’Neill’s leadership and in particular his unilateral handling of a multibillion-dollar gas deal that opponents said was a poor outcome for PNG [Papua New Guinea] .

Mr O’Neill, who has been prime minister for seven years, has handed the leadership to Sir Julius Chan.

Mr Chan (79) is a former prime minister of Papua New Guinea, having served in the top job from 1980 to 1982, as the country’s second ever prime minister, and then again from 1994 to 1997.

His second term as prime minister was controversial for his handling of the Bougainville civil war. Mr Chan’s government took out a contract with a mercenary organisation to crush separatist fighting in Bougainville, which led to widespread public protests.

Bryan Kramer, an opposition MP and one of Mr O’Neill’s most outspoken critics, said he considered the announcement a “ploy” from the prime minister to try and win back MPs who had defected from the government camp, and that he would not believe Mr O’Neill was really leaving the top job until due process had been observed.

“He’s announced he has stepped down, but we haven’t seen a resignation letter,” said Mr Kramer. The resignation will only come into effect once Mr O’Neill has visited the governor general, something Mr O’Neill said he would do in the coming days.

Writer and activist Martyn Namorong said: “Only proof of resignation of a PM is presentation of a letter of resignation to the governor general and not a media announcement.”

Mr Kramer said Mr O’Neill’s announcement was an attempt to pre-empt a vote of no confidence in the prime minister that opposition MPs would have called for when parliament resumes on Tuesday, which they say they had the numbers to win.

After Mr O’Neill visits the governor general, the vacancy for the position is announced in parliament, and there will be a vote by MPs for a replacement leader.

Mr Kramer said he was confident the opposition bloc, known as the Laguna Camp, had the numbers to elect a member of their group to the top job.

“Assuming the resignation goes through, we will have 63 [MPs on their side, compared with the government’s 48 MPs], whoever we decide on as our nominee, which is a decision that hasn’t been made yet, will be the next prime minister,” said Kramer. “It will definitely not be Julius Chan.”

“This is PNG politics, it’s not over yet,” he added.

Responding to Sunday’s events, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison thanked Mr O’Neill for his friendship. “I have worked with Peter on three different portfolios, as the minister of immigration, as the treasurer, as prime minister. Peter has been a passionate servant of his country.”

He praised Papua New Guinea as Australia’s closest ally. “We have a special relationship, and always will. And I will look forward to working with the prime minister of Papua New Guinea in the same way I have enjoyed such a strong friendship and relationship with Peter O’Neill. My simple message to Peter O’Neill, and I look forward to passing this on soon personally, is thank you. Thank you on behalf of Australia for your friendship.”

Mr Kramer said that among the opposition’s priorities if one of their MPs were elected to the top job were the country’s crumbling health and education systems and improving the economy by stamping out corruption.

Political instability is something of a fixture in the resource-rich but poor South Pacific nation and Mr O’Neill has seen off previous attempts to topple him.

The political crisis came to a head earlier this month after a spate of high-profile resignations by government ministers led to MPs calling a vote of no confidence in the PM.

Mr O’Neill secured a three-week adjournment designed to stall the no-confidence vote and defended his record, labelling talk of a declining economy and living standards as “fake news”.

Last week, Papua New Guinea politics was again thrown into crisis when the attorney general announced an investigation into the citizenship status of all 111 of the country’s MPs to determine if any hold dual citizenship, which would disqualify them from holding public office, after an accusation from Mr Kramer that Mr O’Neill held both Papua New Guinean and Australian citizenship, though he offered no direct evidence of this.

Mr O’Neill denied these allegations and presented his Papua New Guinea passport, with Australian visas inside, to the courts as evidence. – Guardian </s> PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has resigned after seven years on the job.

His announcement Sunday follows weeks of high profile defections from his government to the opposition.

O'Neill said in a news conference in the capital of Port Moresby that recent movements in parliament have shown a "need for change."

He handed over his leadership to a former prime minister and current member of parliament, Sir Julius Chan.

On Friday, one of O Neill's key coalition allies abandoned him. The opposition bloc has since been saying it has 62 lawmakers in its camp, which would give it a majority in parliament.

The resignation will be formalized when O'Neill visits the governor-general, the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II.

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2018, file photo, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill gestures after inspecting the APEC 2018 International Media Center at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. O'Neill has resigned Sunday after seven years on the job. His announcement follows weeks of high profile defections from his government to the opposition. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2017, file photo, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York. O'Neill has resigned Sunday after seven years on the job. His announcement follows weeks of high profile defections from his government to the opposition. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) </s> Peter O’Neill, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, has resigned.

O’Neill told a news conference in Port Moresby that recent changes to political allegiances in parliament had shown a “need for change”.

O’Neill, who has been prime minister for seven years, has handed the leadership to Sir Julius Chan.

This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates </s> Scott Morrison's focus on Pacific diplomacy is facing an immediate test, with Papua New Guinea engulfed in political uncertainty.

The country's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, has announced he plans to resign after seven years in office following weeks of high-profile defections from his government to the opposition.

Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne says the Morrison Government will work with whoever takes over the reigns. </s> Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill resigned on Sunday, media reports said, following a string of high-profile political defections that threatened his leadership.

O'Neill -- who had been in power since 2011 -- handed over the reins to Julius Chan, who has twice been prime minister, PNG broadcaster EMTV reported.

"It is important that we maintain a certain amount of stability. We have heard the calls and we have agreed for a change of government," O'Neill told reporters, according to EMTV.

Chan said the transition was to ensure stability in the Pacific nation.

"I want to thank the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, for all that he has done to bring this country (to where it is) today," he told reporters.

"Men and women of Papua New Guinea... we have very short memories. Tomorrow you will look back and see all the things that he has done. But like life itself, you just got to move on."

O'Neill, 54, survived a vote of no confidence earlier this month, but had been under pressure following the signing of a multi-billion-dollar deal for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project with France's Total and US firm ExxonMobil earlier this year.

The LNG project would almost double Papua New Guinea's gas exports, but local communities have complained bitterly about not benefiting from similar deals in the past. </s> Papua New Guinea has appointed James Marape as its new prime minister, after a tumultuous few months in the country’s political life.

Marape, a former finance minister and sometime ally of the outgoing prime minister Peter O’Neill, was elected by MPs who voted overwhelmingly, 101 to eight, to make him the next leader.

Marape, the member for Tari-Pori in New Hela province was a key minister in O’Neill’s government and his defection from the government to the opposition camp in April accelerated O’Neill’s resignation from office.

For a time he was the opposition bloc’s candidate to replace O’Neill as prime minister, before he was beaten in a secret ballot to become opposition leader by Patrick Pruaitch earlier this week.

In a sign of the fluid nature of PNG politics, after O’Neill resigned officially on Wednesday, Marape and his supporters returned to the government camp.

The vote came after months of turmoil in the Pacific nation, which has seen opposing MPs camped out at different hotels in the country’s capital of Port Moresby, high-level defections between opposing groups, shouting matches on the floor of parliament, and finally, the resignation of former prime minister Peter O’Neill on the floor of parliament on Wednesday.

O’Neill, who has led PNG since 2011, is only the second prime minister in the young country’s history to have served out a full term.

The election for O’Neill’s replacement was held in PNG’s parliament on Wednesday. Marape beat former prime minister and opposition figure Sir Mekere Morauta.

In a surprising moment in the day’s proceedings, opposition leader Patrick Pruaitch nominated O’Neill as a candidate for the job that O’Neill had resigned just a day earlier. O’Neill initially accepted the nomination and then later withdrew his name from the contest.

O’Neill initially announced he would resign at a media conference on Sunday, but opponents doubted the sincerity of this announcement after O’Neill then sought legal action to block the the opposition from holding a vote of no confidence in him, however, in a speech to parliament on Wednesday, O’Neill said he had visited the governor general that morning to tender his resignation, prompting a vote among MPs for his replacement on Thursday morning.

Going into Wednesday’s parliamentary session, the opposition claimed it had the support of 68 out of the country’s 111 MPs, which would have allowed it to ensure their leader, Patrick Pruatich, a former treasurer, would become the next prime minister.

However after O’Neill officially resigned on Wednesday at least 30 of the country’s MPs returned to the government bloc, including high-profile opponents such as James Marape and William Duma.

Bryan Kramer, an opposition MP who has been one of the O’Neill’s most vocal critics, said that among the opposition’s priorities if it came to power, would be to launch an investigation into O’Neill’s business practices, which have come under severe criticism, including his handling of a multibillion-dollar gas deal that opponents said was a poor outcome for PNG. The election of Marape makes it unlikely that such an investigation will take place.

Kramer was not present in the chamber during the vote for a new prime minister.

O’Neill came to power in 2011 in circumstances that were later ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court. Despite this contentious start, there was a wave of optimism when O’Neill came to power after he initiated an anti-corruption investigation called Task Force Sweep.

However, optimism in O’Neill’s leadership faded after O’Neill became a target of investigations over allegations he authorised payments of $30m for fraudulent legal bills. O’Neill denied the allegations and the government disbanded the task force.

Scandals surrounding the prime minister’s business dealings have continued to dog O’Neill throughout his prime ministership, and he was forced to step down after after high-profile MPs left his government for the opposition over the last month.

“It is important that I vacate this seat, so that we can be able to move on,” he told parliament on Wednesday.

O’Neill listed his achievements as prime ministers included the country’s hosting of the Apec summit last year and the expansion of the education sectors and the delivery of infrastructure projects. He also said his government was able to improve PNG’s global image.
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announces his resignation over disputes of him holding dual citizenship and after weeks of defections from his coalition government.