Rural Development Party
Political party in Papua New Guinea / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rural Development Party was a political party in Papua New Guinea.
Rural Development Party | |
---|---|
Founder | Moses Maladina |
Founded | 2006 |
Dissolved | 2015 |
Ideology | Agrarianism |
It was founded in November 2006 by Esa’ala MP Moses Maladina, who became the party's first leader.[1][2] In May 2007, media reports suggested that some members were unhappy with a perceived lack of party financial support for their campaigns.[3]
It was reported to have won three out of 109 seats at the 2007 general elections: Maladina, Alphonse Moroi (Central Provincial) and Benjamin Philip (Mariyama Open).[4][5][6] A fourth, Manus Provincial MP Michael Sapau, had been reported as a party candidate during the campaign, but denied any association upon his election and claimed to be an independent.[7] The party initially supported the government of Michael Somare, with Maladina being promoted to the Ministry as Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs in July 2010; the party then had a position in the Peter O'Neill government from August 2011.[8][9]
Moroi had joined the National Alliance Party by late 2008.[10] By the 2012 election, Maladina and Philip had defected to the governing People's National Congress, and Maladina was serving as Leader of Government Business. In April 2012, Speaker Jeffrey Nape - formerly of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party - was appointed as the new Rural Development Party leader for the election.[11][12]
The party won no seats at the 2012 election and was deregistered in 2015.[13][14]