The Papua New Guinea parliament has passed legislation to allow for states of emergency in the National Capital District, which encompasses Port Moresby and the two troubled Highlands provinces of Hela and Southern Highlands.
The measure will allow the caretaker government of Peter O'Neill to mobilise the army in those areas but details of what action will be taken are yet to be made public.
It follows another week of political turbulence in PNG in which two factions claiming to be the rightful government have re-asserted their legitimacy.
In March the government announced a lesser call out order for Defence Force and police to the Highlands provinces of Hela and Enga.
