People's Progress Party

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The People's Progress Party (PPP) is a political party in Papua New Guinea. Its current leader is Douglas Tomuriesa, with Brown Sinamoi as president and Moses Kar as secretary. The party was founded on November 11, 1969 by Julius Chan and Warren Dutton, starting with 11 members in the House of Assembly.

Julius Chan served as Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister from 1980 to 1982 and again from 1994 to 1997. His second government ended after the Sandline Affair, and Chan and acting Prime Minister John Giheno both lost their seats, with Michael Nali becoming the party’s leader in Parliament. When Chan was not prime minister, the PPP often acted as a junior partner in coalitions, usually with the Pangu Party.

In the 2002 general elections, the PPP won 8 seats, making it the third-largest party. The 2007 elections saw the party lose about half of its seats. Julius Chan returned to Parliament and took leadership of the party, but he ran for Prime Minister and received only 21 of 109 votes.

As of September 2019, the PPP had 5 members in Papua New Guinea’s 111-seat National Parliament and was part of the governing coalition under Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.