Bill Skate
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William Jack "Bill" Skate (born 1954) is a politician in Papua New Guinea. Though his career has been turbulent and often marked by setbacks, he has served in the highest posts in that country. He has served as Governor-General and speaker of parliament and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. He was Prime Minister from 1997 to 1998 and resigned after 18 months, fearing that he would lose a challenge. In 2002, his political party, the People's National Congress, became a coalition partner in the government of Michael Somare and Skate became speaker of parliament. He was appointed acting Governor-General in November 2003. Sir Pato Kakaraya was supposed to take up the office on January 20, 2004, but Skate remained governor-general because of court chalenges to Kakeraya's election. On March 3, 2004, Skate was suspended from the governor-general position because of allegations that he misappropriated funds during the 1990s. He then advised the prime minister to appoint a cabinet minister as governor-general. The following day, however, he was cleared of the financial charges in court, and he became governor-general again. In May 2004, his party left the coalition when he and other members refused to support a constitutional amendment supported by Somare which would give the government more time to be immune to no confidence votes. As a result, the PNC is the largest opposition party, but on May 28, 2004, Skate lost his positions as speaker of parliament and governor-general when parliament elected a pro-government candidate, Jeffery Nape as speaker. The choice of a governor-general had still not been finalized yet, so the parliament speaker still serves in that position. See also: List of national leaders.
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