United Resources Party
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United Resources Party
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|---|---|
| Leader | William Duma |
| President | Ken Yapane |
| Secretary | Stephen Pim |
| Founder | Anderson Agiru |
| Founded | December 1997 |
| National Parliament |
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The United Resources Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea.
It was established in December 1997 by Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru, who became the inaugural leader. The party initially supported Bill Skate as Prime Minister, although they later withdrew their support. It grew through the course of 1998, with four MPs in August, five in October, and six in December: Agiru, Masket Iangalio, Peter Ipatas, Alfred Kaiabe, Charles Luta and Roy Yaki. Ipatas defected to the People's Democratic Movement in April 2001.
Agiru was dismissed from office and banned from public office for three years in January 2002 after being found guilty of misconduct by a leadership tribunal, and failed in repeated attempts to overturn the ban to allow him to contest the June 2002 election. Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai was the party's only MP after the election, and in July 2002, he became the party's second leader, with Agiru stating "the party is here to stay". Following the election, the URP switched their support to new Prime Minister Michael Somare. By December, Akoitai was serving as Mining Minister in the Somare government, and it was reported that seven independent MPs had joined the party. It gained a second ministry in August 2003.
In November 2003, Akoitai was replaced as leader by Tim Neville, who stated "we wanted to put some fire into the party", heading what had become a caucus of nine MPs. A week later, it merged with the Pan Melanesia Congress and the Advance People's Party, increasing their numbers to thirteen and making them the second largest party in the National Parliament after the governing National Alliance Party. The merger was queried by former leader Agiru, who highlighted the regulatory requirements for amalgamation under the Integrity Law. In January 2004, Akoitai and Agiru attempted to eject eight United Resources Party MPs who had been originally elected as independents from the party: Neville, William Duma, Isaac Taitibe, John Vulupindi, Benny Allen, Kuri Kingal, Clement Nakmai and Malcolm Kela Smith.
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