Papua New Guinea Constitutional Democratic Party

The Papua New Guinea Constitutional Democratic Party (PNGCDP) is a former political party in Papua New Guinea.

It was founded in January 2011 by former Chief Ombudsman, Public Service Commission chairman and Police Commissioner Ila Geno on an anti-corruption platform.^[1] He was supported by anti-corruption advocates John Toguata and Daniel Kassa and former National Court judge Nemo Yalo, while Tobias Thomas served as party secretary.^[1]^[2]^[3]

It won its first seat in August 2011, when accountant Tobias Kulang, an in-law of Geno, won a by-election in the seat of Kundiawa-Gembogl caused by the death of Joe Mek Teine.^[4] Kulang was re-elected at the 2012 election, but the party won no other seats.^[5]^[6] After the election, Kulang as party leader attacked O'Neill for being involved with people who he claimed had been involved in alleged fraud, and vowed to join the opposition to provide public scrutiny of the government's performance.^[7]

Kulang continued as an outspoken individual member of the opposition after his re-election, although very little was heard of the party itself thereafter. In October 2013, Geno and Kulang jointly filed a constitutional challenge against a law extending the parliamentary grace period from no-confidence motions.^[8] However, the next month, in November 2013, Kulang resigned from the PNGCDP and crossed to the government, joining O'Neill's junior coalition partner, the People's Progress Party.^[9]

After a period of inactivity, Geno reactivated the party for the 2017 election. The party was named as part of a proposed "alternative government" of opposition parties should the governing People's National Congress fail to win a majority.^[10] The party did not win any seats and is not currently registered as a political party.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b "Ila Geno launches party". PNG Post Courier. 3 January 2011.
^ "Watchdog backs Geno". PNG Post Courier. 26 January 2011.
^ "Change in leadership vital for PNG: Yalo". PNG Post Courier. 23 June 2011.
^ "Kulang acsends to the roof of PNG". PNG Post-Courier. 1 September 2011.
^ "Kua takes the mantle". PNG Post Courier. 31 July 2012.
^ "GG receives 105 writs". PNG Post Courier. 2 August 2012.
^ "PM must clarify NPF saga". PNG Post Courier. 13 August 2012.
^ "No-Confidence Grace Period Extension Challenged In PNG". Pacific Islands Report. Pacific Islands Development Program. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
^ "Kulang defects to Govt". PNG Post Courier. 25 November 2013.
^ "Opposition parties join forces". The National. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "Parties". www.ippcc.gov.pg. Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-05-29.