𝘉𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯
Michael Somare, bearded, eager, proud and secure within his own remarkable culture, became the face of Papua New Guinea to the world from the time the first daring troublemakers there began to dream of independence in the 1960s. Even more extraordinarily, he remained to his own people the face that mirrored their national aspirations over almost 50 years.
Other prime ministers came and went — Julius Chan and Paias Wingti, twice each — but when Somare returned to the top job in 2002 after a 17-year gap, he began his longest term in power.
He was knighted, and was awarded the top honour, a member of the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, after PNG also introduced its own honours system under his prime ministership in 2005. But he was ubiquitously known as “The Chief”.
His political longevity was principally owed to three chiefly skills: as a public speaker, both in the national language, Tok Pisin, and in English; as a chairman of the board, maintaining his fissiparous ministers in some kind of order; and as a parliamentary coalition builder and political numbers man, keeping track of the countless trade-offs required to maintain a majority in the PNG political bearpit.
Celebrating 40 years as an MP, Somare said: “I know what PNG politics tastes like.” And to ordinary Papua New Guineans, he remained the embodiment of their bright hopes, which he articulated at independence.