A view of the government benches in Papua New Guinea's parliament. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
The speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament has adjourned a sitting to vote on a no confidence motion in the prime minister until next Friday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered parliament to reconvene so the opposition could file their motion against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.
This morning, the opposition said it suspected the Speaker, Theo Zurenuoc, and the Clerk of the House would try and make MPs vote on the motion today, as well.
The opposition this morning obtained another Supreme Court ruling ordering the adjournment, which Mr Zurenuoc has abided by.
Also in parliament this afternoon, the government MP Ben Micah and his four People's Progressive Party MPs crossed the floor to the opposition benches.
The next seven days will be spent lobbying and horse-trading as each side tries to rally enough numbers to form a majority, but as it stands, Mr O'Neill's coalition retains a commanding lead.
