Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has welcomed the decision by the public prosecutor to refer him to the leadership tribunal.
Mr O'Neill told media today the country's public prosecutor had asked the chief justice to set up a leadership tribunal to investigate his conduct in relation to the loan. Mr O'Neill said he welcomed the chance to clear his name and that he did not plan on stepping aside, unless instructed to. A leadership tribunal is a quasi-legal forum that must be approved first by the ombudsman, then the public prosecutor and finally the chief justice. Earlier this year, Papua New Guinea's government took out a $A1.3 billion loan with the Australian branch of UBS bank to buy shares in the nation's biggest company Oil Search. The move was controversial, with criticism over the approval and the level of debt incurred by the nation. It was not clear when such a tribunal might be established, but the impending recess of the courts meant it was unlikely to start before next year. Mr O'Neill said the investigation would not affect payments to service the loan. PNG Facts/ABC News
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