Paias Wingti (born 2 February 1951) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as the third

prime minister of Papua New Guinea The prime minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea () is Papua New Guinea's head of government, elected by the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, National Parliament and formally appointed by the Governor-General of Papua New ...

between 1985 and 1988, and again from 1992 to 1994.

Early life and education

Wingti hails from the Jika Tribe of the Western Highlands province, and was born in Moika village, near Mount Hagen. He did not go to school until the age of 10, but was later educated at Mount Hagen High School. He enrolled at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in 1974, and first visited

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as an

Australian Union of Students The Australian Union of Students (AUS), formerly National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS), was a representative body and lobby group for Australian university and college of advanced education students. It collapsed in 1984 and ...

delegate for the UPNG Student Representative Council. While doing his final year in Economics at university, he contested the 1977 election, and won the Hagen Open seat, joining

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 25 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the " father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

's Pangu Party.

Political career

He served as Minister for Civil Aviation from 1978 until the defeat of the first Somare government in 1980, and when Somare returned to power in 1982, became Deputy Prime Minister. He split with the Pangu Party in 1985 and formed the People's Democratic Movement, becoming

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. In November 1985, he moved a successful no-confidence vote against the Somare government and became the third

aged 34. Julius Chan, the second prime minister, served as Wingti's deputy. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1987. He remained in power after the 1987 election after corralling a slender majority of three votes. He announced a more independent foreign policy, attempting to enhance relations with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He lost a motion of confidence in July 1988 with changes in the shifting coalition and was succeeded by Rabbie Namaliu, the new leader of the Pangu Party, but Wingti returned for a further two-year stint in 1992. His second term was marked by an escalation of unrest in Bougainville and he was ousted by Julius Chan in August 1994. Wingti continued to represent the Western Highlands in the

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the Unicameralism, unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was grante ...

, although he switched from the local Hagen constituency to the provincial-level electorate in 1995. Wingti served as the governor of Western Highlands Province from 1995 to 1997, when he was defeated for re-election by Father

Robert Lak The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

. He returned to parliament in 2002, defeating Lak to regain his seat and the governorship. He subsequently won back the leadership of the People's Democratic Movement from Mekere Morauta, who had taken over after his defeat, in 2007. However, he was defeated in his bid for re-election at the 2007 election, losing to former student activist Tom Olga, largely as a result of the new preferential voting syste

Wingti, along with fellow former prime minister Rabbie Namaliu, were the most high-profile losers of the election. Additionally, Wingti lost the governorship of West Highlands Province to Olga. The PDM also suffered a major defeat in the election, losing several seats. He nominated to contest the July 2012 general elections and defeated Tom Olga by 112640 votes to 89195, a difference of 23445 votes and elected Governor of Western Highlands Province. He was one of the three former prime ministers who backed Peter O'Neil to be retained as prime minister of Papua New Guinea at Parliament House on 3 August 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wingti, Paias 1951 births Living people Prime ministers of Papua New Guinea Governors of Western Highlands Province Leaders of the opposition (Papua New Guinea) Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from the Western Highlands Province People's Democratic Movement politicians 20th-century Papua New Guinean politicians Ministers for foreign affairs of Papua New Guinea