Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister says there's not enough evidence to sack a leading minister for alleged corruption.
William Duma Photo: Prime Minister's Media Office
Commerce and industry minister William Duma is at the centre of bribery claims in two recent articles by the Australian Financial Review.
Mr Duma is alleged to have allowed Australian company Horizon Oil to pay a bribe to secure a gas deal when he was petroleum minister in 2011.
Yesterday, as James Marape's government introduced major anti-corruption legislation in parliament, he said Mr Duma was not being stood down for now.
"Just because a private company in Australia has felt that certain managers of that company didn't prescribe to company protocols and processes and procedures, and there's an inference made that transaction is possibly wrong, doesn't give me immediate need to sack a minister just based on perception alone," Mr Marape told Parliament.
Commentnig on Facebook, the prime minister also said he would seek Mr Duma's version of events.
Mr Duma earlier told the ABC's Pacific Beat programme that unless it could be proven that he breached PNG law, it was unfair to make the allegations.