PAPUA New Guinea's Prime Minister, Sir Julius Chan, bowed to military and popular pressure yesterday and stepped down to end 10 days of turmoil in the South Pacific nation.
Sir Julius's announcement to parliament prompted jubilation among thousands of protesters, including soldiers loyal to the sacked army chief, Gen Jerry Singirok, who had blockaded the building.
Sir Julius (57) had tried to survive a crisis about his decision to hire foreign mercenaries to crush an ethnic uprising on the island of Bougainville.
Gen Singirok demanded Sir Julius resign over the $36 million mercenary contract but the prime minister in turn sacked the quietly spoken "soldier's soldier", sparking widespread protests and some violence.
Sir Julius bowed to the pressure yesterday, telling parliament that the deputy prime minister, Mr Chris Haiveta, and the defence minister, Mr Mathias Ijape, would step aside during an inquiry into the mercenary contract and ahead of elections due in June.
The worst crisis in Papua New Guinea's 22 years of independence started on March 17th when Gen Singirok demanded that Sir Julius resign and expel some 70 African mercenaries flown in by the British company, Sandline International.
The mercenaries had been hired in a secret deal to crush the nine year secessionist war on Bougainville and recapture a vast copper mine forced to close by the fighting in 1989.
Gen Singirok was promptly sacked but Sir Julius was unable to control a groundswell of popular and military opposition. Gen Singirok and other senior officers kept up the pressure on Sir Julius and his allies.