Pangu Pati

The Pangu Pati (English: Pangu Party), officially Papua na Niugini Yunion Pati^[b] (English: Papua and New Guinea Union Party),^[c] is a nationalist^[5][3] and developmentalist^[3][4] political party on the centre-left^[5] in Papua New Guinea. The party is the oldest political party in Papua New Guinea and has held all levels of government throughout its history. As of 2023, it is the largest party in the National Parliament.^[9]

Papua and New Guinea Union Party Papua na Niugini Yunion Pati
Abbreviation	Pangu PNGU
Leader	James Marape
President	Erigere Singin
General Secretary	Morris Tovebae
Treasurer	Albert Mokae
Founded	13 June 1967; 57 years ago (13 June 1967)
Membership (1968)	2,000+[1]
Ideology	Indigenism[2] Developmentalism[3] Economic nationalism[4] Papua New Guinea nationalism[5][3]
Political position	Centre to centre-left[5]
Colours	Green
Slogan	"Pangu Save Lo Rot"[6][a]
National Parliament	58 / 118 (2024)[7]
Politics of Papua New Guinea Political parties Elections

History

The Pangu Pati was established on 13 June 1967,^[10][1] in order to contest the elections of 1968 (Papua and New Guinea).^[1] At the time of its founding, the party stood-out as its ideals were for a political unification of Papua and New Guinea, stronger economic development and to grow the national income.^[10] Other parties, such as the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP), were in favour of Australian statehood.^[1][11] Although the party, and its candidates, were not in a formal political union, there were ten candidates of Pangu that were elected to the House of Assembly.^[12][13] The 1972 election, the last under Australian authority, saw Pangu-endorsed candidates win eighteen seats, with a total of pro-Pangu candidates reaching twenty-six.^[14]

Somare later served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea as the leader of the Pangu Party from 1972 to 1980 and from 1982 to 1985. In 1985, Paias Wingti led a faction of the party to split with Somare, and Wingti won a no-confidence vote against Somare, succeeding him as prime minister. In 1988, Somare was replaced as leader of Pangu by Rabbie Namaliu who served as prime minister from 1988 to 1992. Somare would then become leader of the National Alliance Party.

At the 2002 elections, the party won 6 of 109 seats, under the leadership of Chris Haiveta. After that election, Somare returned to power as prime minister. Pangu became a member of his coalition government, and continued to support the Somare government after the 2007 elections, in which Pangu won 5 seats.^[15]

It won only one seat at the 2012 election, that of Angoram MP Ludwig Schulze, but was left unrepresented when Schulze died in March 2013.^[16] In August 2014, Deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil crossed to Pangu and reactivated its parliamentary wing, taking on the leadership.^[17] The party's numbers increased to two in August 2015 when William Samb won a by-election in Goilala Open.^[18]

Electoral results

National Parliament

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1977	Michael Somare	—	35% (#1)	30 / 109	New	Coalition
1982		No data		51 / 109	21	Coalition
1987		408,082	14.93 (#1)	26 / 109	25	Opposition
1992	Rabbie Namaliu	294,738	9.33 (#1)	22 / 109	4	Opposition
1997	Chris Haiveta	237,028	5.31 (#3)	13 / 109	9	Opposition
2002		No data		6 / 109	7	Opposition
2007				5 / 109	1	Coalition
2012	Andrew Kumbakor			1 / 111	4	Opposition
2017	Sam Basil	322,049	4.08 (#4)	9 / 111	8	Coalition
2022	James Marape	No data		39 / 116	30	Coalition

Notes

1. English: "Pangu knows the way"
2. Also spelt "Papua and Niugini Union Pati".^[8]
3. Also simply known as the "Papua New Guinea Union Party".^[3]

References

1. Wolfers, Edward P. (1968). "The Emergence of Political Parties in Papua and New Guinea". The Journal of Pacific History. 3 (1968): 156. doi:10.1080/00223346808572133.
2. May, R. J. (2004). "Class, Ethnicity, Regionalism and Political Parties". State and Society in Papua New Guinea. ANU Press. pp. 127–146. ISBN 1920942068. JSTOR j.ctt2jbkfq.10.
3. "Australia and Papua New Guinea, 1966–1969" (PDF). dfat.gov.au. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). 2006.
4. "PNG Political Parties' Policies Seminar Series 2021 – Seminar Proceedings Report" (PDF). pngnri.org. National Research Institute. March 2022.
5. Rose, JJ (23 August 2022). "Papua New Guinea PM faces uncertain future after election disarray". Nikkei Asia.
6. Kabuni, Michael (17 June 2022). "PM Marape's compromised & corrupted Pangu". pngattitude.com.
7. Kabuni, Michael (21 February 2024). "Can Marape fashion stability in PNG?". East Asia Forum. East Asia Forum. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024.
8. "Papua New Guinea". cia.gov. The World Factbook.
9. Whiting, Natalie (9 August 2022). "James Marape will be Papua New Guinea's prime minister after an election marred by violence". ABC News. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
10. "Home rule party formed in NG". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 714. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 June 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Seventh State Party". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 688. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 May 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
12. Pacific Islands Monthly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Pacific Publications, 1931, ISSN 0030-8722, nla.obj-327092031, retrieved 19 June 2023 – via Trove
13. "The 1968 Elections IV: The Candidates" (PDF). icwa.org. Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA). 1968.
14. Political Parties in the Pacific Islands (PDF). ANU Press. 2006. p. 85.
15. "MOA to Govern". The National. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
16. "PM, Namah offer condolences". The National. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
17. "Basil now new Pangu leader". PNG Post Courier. 20 August 2014.
18. "Pangu Pati candidate wins Goilala". PNG Post Courier. 12 August 2015.