P. O. Box 237, Gordons · Port Moresby North East Electorate · National Capital District, PNG
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The Papua New Guinea Party was founded in 2007 by the late Sir Mekere Morauta — the country's seventh Prime Minister (1999–2002), a career economist and reformer — together with MP Wake Goi. Before politics, Morauta helped build the nation's financial institutions as Secretary of Finance, head of the state banking corporation, and Governor of the central bank.
By Sir Mekere Morauta & MP Wake Goi, on principles of integrity and reform.
2007 general election — the party became the largest opposition party in Parliament.
By January 2012, as members of smaller parties joined its ranks.
Hon. Belden Norman Namah, entrusted with the leadership by Sir Mekere Morauta.
From founding to the present day — the thread that runs through the Papua New Guinea Party's history.
The party was conceived around a clear set of ideas: restoring integrity in public life, strengthening national institutions, promoting economic discipline, and keeping government accountable to the people. In its first outing it won 8 of 109 seats in the 2007 general election, making it the largest opposition party in Parliament.
While still one of the country's most respected figures, Sir Mekere Morauta stood down from the leadership of both the party and the opposition. At the handover he described the Papua New Guinea Party as a national institution and called for a new generation to take it forward — famously urging established leaders to step back and let "young and vibrant" ones lead while they advised from behind. The Member for Vanimo-Green, Belden Norman Namah, was elected to succeed him as party leader and Leader of the Opposition.
Around Namah gathered a generation of energetic MPs — among them the late Sam Basil and the late Jamie Maxtone-Graham — who spoke for reform and a genuine alternative in national politics. Within a year Namah had become Deputy Prime Minister, and the party's numbers swelled to 25 MPs by January 2012 as others joined its cause.
Through changing political fortunes — including terms as Opposition Leader and, most recently, as a governing-coalition minister — Namah remains party leader, more than a decade after Sir Mekere entrusted it to him. Re-elected to Vanimo-Green River in 2012, 2017 and 2022, he is now serving his fourth consecutive parliamentary term.
Sir Mekere Morauta passed away in December 2020. Sam Basil died in 2022, and Jamie Maxtone-Graham has also since passed. Yet the party they helped shape endures. The Papua New Guinea Party today holds a smaller footprint in Parliament than at its 2012 peak — three seats as of the 2022 election — but its founding purpose remains its measure: an institution built to outlast any single leader, and to keep producing leaders who carry its reformist vision forward.
The party's parliamentary strength has risen and fallen over the years; figures here reflect published records.
The reformist ideas Sir Mekere set at the party's foundation — the thread its leaders have carried forward. Tap each to read more.
Restoring honesty and trust in public office as the basis of good government. This was the founding argument Sir Mekere Morauta made in 2007: that Papua New Guinea's institutions needed leaders who would put the country's integrity ahead of personal or party gain.
Building state institutions that can outlast any individual leader or government. Morauta's own career — Secretary of Finance, head of the state banking corporation, Governor of the central bank — informed a party built to be a lasting national institution rather than a personal vehicle.
Sound management of the national economy and the country's resources. This principle continues today through advocacy for an export-driven economy and major infrastructure such as the Vanimo Free Trade Zone.
Keeping government answerable to the people it serves. From opposition benches to cabinet posts, the party's MPs have framed their role as holding government to account on behalf of their electorates.
See how those founding ideas translate into the priorities the party's leadership champions today.
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