Somare re-elected PNG PM

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PORT MORESBY, Aug 13 (AFP): Papua New Guinea's veteran leader Michael Somare was re-elected prime minister Monday after securing a huge majority in parliament.
Somare, 71, gained the support of 86 out of 109 members of parliament elected by a national vote last month, enabling him to form a coalition government.Parliament was ringed by armed police to prevent any protests against Somare's election, but the vote went off peacefully.
The re-elected prime minister's National Alliance won just 27 parliamentary seats, but in the traditional post-election horse-trading forged alliances with smaller parties and independent candidates to form a coalition government.
Some 30 political parties and more than 2,700 candidates, many of them independents, contested the elections, which began on June 30 and ran for two weeks across the rugged island state.Among those remaining on the opposition benches are former prime ministers Julius Chan and Mekere Morauta and Somare's sacked former treasurer Bart Philemon.