Amkat Mai

Amkat Mai (born 1 January 1962) is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was elected to the National Parliament at the 2012 election as Governor of West Sepik Province, lost office on 4 October 2013 when his election was declared void by the National Court, and returned to parliament when he won a subsequent by-election for his seat in August 2015. He has variously been a member of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party (2012), Papua New Guinea Party (2012) and National Alliance Party (2012–present).[1][2][3]

Mai was an educationist in the Telefomin district prior to entering politics.[4] He won the West Sepik governorship at the 2012 election as an endorsed Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party candidate, but announced his intention to shift to the Papua New Guinea Party prior to the conclusion of counting; his shift sparked criticism from the Registrar of Political Parties, who delayed recognising the move until after a government was formed.[5][6] He criticised a ban on foreign journalists entering Papua New Guinea to cover issues with the Australian-run Manus Regional Processing Centre, but welcomed the centre's reopening, suggesting that Australia should provide assistance with surveillance and border monitoring capabilities in exchange.[7][8] In November 2012, he switched parties for a second time and crossed from the opposition to the government, leaving the Papua New Guinea Party and joining the National Alliance Party.[9]

On 4 October 2013, the National Court declared Mai's election to have been null and void after ruling in favour of a legal challenge from two losing candidates and previous governors, Simon Solo and John Tekwie, on the basis that there had been illegal practices during the election, including underage children voting, double voting and multiple voting.[10][1] Mai appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which upheld the National Court decision in March 2015, ruling that a by-election needed to be held.[11] Mai was re-elected with an absolute majority of votes at the resulting August 2015 by-election.[12] He has supported a free trade zone around the PNG-Indonesia border to provide economic benefits for the Vanimo area, argued that Papua New Guinea should set up more police border posts to protect sovereignty and deter illegal activities, and called for the development of the Wewak port to international standards.[13][14][15] In December 2016, he signed a deal with two Chinese companies to establish two large industrial parks in West Sepik Province.[16]

References

1. "Solo v Mai [2013] PGNC 255; N5562 (4 October 2013)". National Court of Papua New Guinea. PacLII. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
2. "Mai wins again in PNG's West Sepik". Radio New Zealand. 24 August 2015.
3. "Nominations By Electorate" (PDF). PNG Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
4. "Two PNG MP Break ranks". PACNEWS. 27 November 2012.
5. "PNG official to rule on planned party swapping". Radio New Zealand News International. 23 July 2012.
6. "PNG MPs cannot shift alliance until after govt formed - resgistrar". Radio New Zealand News International. 24 July 2012.
7. "PNG lifts ban on foreign journalists covering Manus Island story". Radio New Zealand News International. 3 September 2012.
8. "Mai: Improve border surveillance". PNG Post-Courier. 5 September 2012.
9. "Sandaun MP leaves Opposition, joins NA". PNG Post-Courier. 26 November 2012.
10. "Court orders West Sepik provincial seat by-election". PNG Post Courier. 2 December 2013.
11. "Court orders by-election". PNG Post Courier. 31 March 2015.
12. "Amkat Mai retains WSepik Governor". PNG Post-Courier. 24 August 2015.
13. "West Sepik Governor likes trade zone concept". Radio New Zealand News International. 6 November 2015.
14. "PNG-Indo border need more police posts". PNG Post-Courier. 15 February 2016.
15. "Mai: Open up Wewak port". PNG Post-Courier. 24 March 2016.
16. "West Sepik people to benefit from industrial parks, says Governor". Radio New Zealand News International. 22 December 2016.