Papua New Guinea’s prime minister has resigned

POLITICAL TRANSITIONS are rarely plain sailing in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The country’s prime ministers like to cling to office regardless of mass desertions of their political allies to their opponents’ side. Its parliamentary speakers defy the rules to keep their jobs. Governments sometimes put pressure on the judiciary and office of the governor-general to help them stay in power. So it was in 2011 during the political turmoil that eventually resulted in Peter O’Neill taking over as PNG’s prime minister. And so it has been again recently, as he has fought to keep his job. Finally, on May 29th, he tendered his resignation to avoid the humiliation of defeat in an impending vote of no-confidence.

While in office Mr O’Neill presided over a boom in the export of minerals. A $19bn project, launched in 2014, involved the extraction of liquid natural gas in the Southern Highlands, a province. It is the biggest ever private-sector investment in PNG. But Mr O’Neill’s opponents say it has brought little benefit to local people. Paul Flanagan, a former treasury official in PNG, says the country’s living standards have been falling in the past five years.

A no-confidence motion against Mr O’Neill was originally due to take place in February. But he avoided it by declaring a three-month suspension of parliament. In April...