Papua New Guinea's veteran politician, Sir Michael Somare, has commended the people for showing maturity by not causing disharmony during the recent political crisis.
In a New Year's message carried by the newspaper, The National, Sir Michael has also confirmed that he will bow out of politics this year although his political rivals claim he has been out of the prime ministership since last August's contested parliamentary vote.
The country has been locked in a legal dispute over whether the take-over by Peter O'Neill has been constitutional.
Sir Michael, who insists to be the legitimate leader, has commended Papua New Guineans for not using the recent crisis to cause disharmony in their communities.
Sir Michael says there is no need to arrange groups to protest in the capital over political developments as these groups do not represent individual constituencies around the country.
