英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

Papua New Guinea politics were deadlocked Thursday, with two men claiming to be prime minister, two governments saying they hold power, rival police chiefs maintaining the peace _ and no one sure who actually was in charge.

The power struggle in the most populous South Pacific island nation has exasperated the public and prompted union leaders to call on both men claiming to be prime minister to find a solution before the situation worsens.

The country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio have backed 76-year-old Sir Michael Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed as prime minister while getting medical treatment outside the country. But lawmakers loyal to his rival Peter O'Neill have passed retroactive legislation recognizing him as leader.

"We are sick and tired of the selfish behavior by our politicians," said Michael Malabang, head of the country's Trade Union Congress, which represents tens of thousands of private and public sector workers across Papua New Guinea, a former Australian territory rich in mineral resources. "We don't want a total public service breakdown, and it is coming to that stage."

The standoff began Monday, when the Supreme Court ruled that O'Neill's election by parliament in August was unconstitutional and said Somare should be reinstated as prime minister. Lawmakers backing O'Neill stormed the gates of Ogio's official residence on Tuesday, demanding he meet with O'Neill. Ogio, who represents British Queen Elizabeth II _ the country's head of state _ said he'd decide by Wednesday who should be prime minister.

On Wednesday, Ogio swore in Somare's Cabinet. Somare insisted he did not need to be sworn in, because the Supreme Court had already reinstated him as prime minister.

But a majority of the country's 109 lawmakers voted later Wednesday to suspend Ogio and replace him temporarily with Speaker Jeffery Nape. Nape then swore O'Neill in as prime minister.

"(Ogio) has failed to swear in the new prime minister according to the advice of the Parliament," O'Neill told Parliament in proposing the motion suspending the governor-general.

Somare dismissed Ogio's suspension as corrupt.

"We're the government despite that fact Parliament is still going on," Somare told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio from the prime minister's office.

staff writer

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party sued Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu, the wife of Premier Wu Den-yih and three lawmakers Wednesday over the documents alleging presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen was guilty of conflict of interest.

On Monday, Liu presented documents purporting to show that Tsai was in charge of a government investment in biotech startup Yu Chang Biologics Co. when serving as vice premier in early 2007. However, Liu had to apologize one day later after theDPP showed the date on the document should have been five months later, when Tsai had already left government and was about to take charge as chairwoman of Yu Chang.

The DPP has accused Liu of conspiracy in a ruling Kuomintang plot trying to discredit Tsai a month before the January 14 presidential election pitting her against KMT incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou.

The opposition said it was suing five people for violating the Election and Recall Act. They had forged documents in order to prevent a candidate from winning an election, a punishable act under the law, the opposition party said.

Apart from Liu, the DPP was suing Tsai Ling-yi, the wife of Ma’s running mate Premier Wu, because she claimed at a rally in Penghu on December 11 that the opposition candidate moved millions from Yu Chang into her own accounts. Speaking to reporters, Wu defended his wife, saying her statements had their roots in fact.

DPP attorney Hsu Kuo-yung said the party was suing outspoken KMT lawmaker Chiu Yi because the latter accused the opposition chairwoman of abusing her power and of pocketing government money.

Senior KMT lawmaker Lin Yi-shih was being taken to court because even though he knew Liu’s documents had been forged, he still held a news conference to propagate them, Hsu said.

The fifth and final person to be sued by the DPP was KMT lawmaker Hsieh Kuo-liang for accusing Tsai of knowing she would become chairwoman of Yu Chang when she was still vice premier, Hsu said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MOSCOW

A little-known Russian governor who is a long-term ally of Vladimir Putin on Wednesday became the latest candidate to announce his plan to stand in March’s presidential election.

His entry was the latest surprise after billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced his plans to run in a dramatic announcement Tuesday, despite being ousted as leader of Kremlin-backed pro-business party just months ago.

Dmitry Mezentsev, 52, has headed the Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia since 2009. But like Putin he grew up in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, and the two worked together in the 1990s.

Other politicians who intend to stand include Liberal Democrat leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Sergei Mironov of A Just Russia left-leaning party, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and Grigory Yavlinsky of liberal Yabloko.

Balding with a moustache, Mezentsev began his career as a railway engineer before going into Soviet politics. He went on to work alongside Putin in the mayor’s office in Saint Petersburg in the 1990s.

His presidential bid was backed by Russian Railways, a statement on the governor’s website said. The vast organisation will help him gather the necessary two million signatures to stand as an independent.

“This is undoubtedly a huge honour for me,” Mezentsev was quoted as saying

on Wednesday, killing eight soldiers in a retaliatory ambush after troops destroyed a civilian car, an activist group said.

It was the second day in a row in which an attack by government forces on civilians appears to have brought a quick and deadly act of revenge by anti-regime fighters.

The ambush shows how the Syria">Syria

n conflict is growing into an insurgency. The uprising against President Bashar Assad was mostly peaceful when it began nine months ago.

The brazen midday attack came hours after troops fired upon a civilian car traveling through the village of Khattab in the countryside of the central province of Hama, killing all five passengers inside.

The vehicle “exploded in a ball of fire,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syria">Syria

staff writer

About a hundred prominent academics, human rights activists and former politicians from the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe will form the committee

A new International Committee for Fair Elections in Taiwan is likely to attract academics and former government officials from all over the world, reports said yesterday.

Joseph Wu, the former Taiwan representative in the United States and former chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, is the driving force behind the new group, which will be officially launched at the Legislative Yuan Thursday.

Two of the candidates in Taiwan’s first-ever direct presidential election in 1996, former President Lee Teng-hui and then-Democratic Progressive Party candidate Peng Ming-min, will lead the group. Lee will serve as honorary chairman, while Peng will hold the function of chairman, reports said.

About a hundred prominent academics, human rights activists and former politicians from the US, Canada, Japan and Europe will form the committee, which would safeguard no outside force interfered with the right of voters to express their will through the ballot box, organizers said.

The committee was still unable to present a membership list Wednesday, reports said, but former US President Jimmy Carter reportedly turned down an invitation to join. Former Japanese Defense Minister Yuriko Koike was reportedly likely to join since she is a close friend of Lee, reports said. A number of Japanese academics, reporters and former officials with ties to Lee and to former Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao are also likely to participate.

A large group of foreign committee members was planning to arrive in Taiwan on January 11, three days before the presidential election, in order to observe proceedings, the organizers said. They are likely to stay and observe the transition period if President Ma Ying-jeou loses the election to DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen.