PM JM is satisfied with the outcome of parliament sitting yesterday with the passing of three laws which he said was symbolic of the types of laws the Marape/ Rosso Pangu led coalition government wants to pass for the betterment of the country. One is the passing of the constitutional amendments to finally recognize PNG as a Christian country, second being the amendment bill for the establishment of a National Petroleum Authority, and the third was the constitutional amendment to section 145 that inserts part that gives 18 months grace period to the government if a Vote of No Confidence (VONC) is unsuccessful. “Today the constitutional amendment on passing the law that finally recognizes our country officially as a Christian County is something that I’m happy with, and the nation should be happy. In a country with so much diversity with over 800 different languages and associated cultures, so much tribal factions, one cannot dispel the fact that churches in our country have anchored our country’s unity and togetherness. “Churches precede government in many fronts, in fact in many communities. They were there before 1975, the earliest church, catholic, was here over 150 years ago,” said Marape. Marape thanked the Attorney General for the passing of this Bill. This law does not stop people of other faiths from practicing their religion. This law just defines PNG as a Melanesian Christian Country. “The second law we passed is a amendment to section 145 of our constitution that inserts part that gives 18 months grace period to government if the VONC is unsuccessful,” he said. He explained that the section 145 has not been totally removed from the constitution. “For clarity, the provision allows for grace period up to 18 months and you don’t move VONC 12 months before elections are taking place, so you have two and a half years in between for a vote of no confidence to be placed on any sitting prime minister.” “This amendment that we passed gives 18 months grace period to government if the VONC is unsuccessful, if you do your mathematics, within a two-and-a-half-year period you have couple of opportunities for a VONC to be moved if members opposite feel that the government needs to be voted out,” Marape said. He further explained that the amendment gives stability and is a halfway in between completely removing VONC or allowing it to remain. “I am a proponent of not removing VONC from the constitution, but we at the same time want to stop those who do not have no numbers, you attempt, you fail, then the government gets 18 months again.” The last law was the one passed on the repeal of the Department of Petroleum through the amendment of the Oil and Gas Act and the establishment of the Petroleum Resource Authority. “This authority will be the regulator of this big sector that contributes to over 50% of our country’s economy and GDP,” said the Prime Minister. PM Marape concluded by thanking all the MPs who voted in favor of passing of the laws. All three received majority votes on the floor of parliament on Wednesday.