PNG capital remains tense after a day of unrest

Transcript

The situation in Papua New Guinea's capital remains tense after a day of unrest when police opened fire on students at the University of PNG.

The students had planned a rally at parliament to show their support for a vote of no confidence in the government, which was expected to be tabled in the house today.

They have been boycotting classes and protesting for over a month, demanding that prime minister Peter O'Neill stand aside to face fraud allegations.

Johnny Blades reports.

The morning's events quickly spiraled after police stopped students from leaving their campus .

Tensions boiled over and some police started shooting, according to one of the student leaders at the University of PNG, Gerald Tulu Manu-Peni .

GERALD TULU MANU-PENI: There was no warning shots, they fired straight at us. We were just five to ten metres away from them. The students fled whatever way they could go. We took cover in our dormitories. They fired tear gas into the dormitories, they fired shots into the dormitories.

Police say 23 people have been hospitalised, some in serious condition.

Mr Tulu Manu-Peni says one of those has been confirmed dead

However police and the government both say there have been no deaths from the unrest.

An MP and governor of Oro province,Gary Juffa, was down at the campus trying to mediate between the police and students.

GARY JUFFA: The students at times were a little rowdy and loud, I guess. But you know, that can be understood from the fact that some of them had just been shot. They felt aggrieved. But the police felt also that there was also, on the part of the students, some intimidation or provocation. So there is a situation that does give rise to tension. According to the leader for government business, there's been some looting and some riots in certain areas of Port Moresby. If there are any deaths then certainly there will be some tension, repercussions.

The prime Minister meanwhile has blamed the parliamentary opposition and who he calls agitators outside the student body for the unrest and the protests of recent weeks.

Announcing an inquiry into the altercation , Mr O'Neill warned that those found to have committed criminal acts would face the full force of the law.

Meanwhile, parliament has been adjourned until August.

The speaker of Parliament, Theo Zurenuoc, who is currently serving as the Governor General expressed disappointment that in his absense from the house, parliament did not deal with the issue behind the unrest.

THEO ZURENUOC: I can also express the fact that I am quite disappointed that the Parliament has adjourned. Again, I have felt that we should have adjourned for one or two days to assess the current situation and maybe reconvene to address the issues at hand. It's my conviction that if that if the government feels it has the numbers, it ought to prove those numbers on the floor of parliament.

A lengthy adjournment of parliament appears to have saved Mr O'Neill from facing a motion of no-confidence, but calls for him to resign are unlikely to recede.

And while police say they have restored calm in Port Moresby, public outrage about police firing on students means the chances of more unrest remain very real.