Bernard Narokobi

rdf:langString Bernard Narokobi

rdf:langString Bernard Mullu Narokobi OBE (1943 – March 2010) was a Papua New Guinean politician, jurist, and philosopher. He was serving as the Papua New Guinean High Commissioner to New Zealand prior to his death. Between 1987 and 1997 he represented his Wewak Open Electorate as a Member in the Papua New Guinea's National Parliament. During his time as a Member of Parliament (MP), he served as the Minister for Justice (1988–1992) in the government led by the then Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu; Agriculture Minister (1992–1994) under the leadership of Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan led government; and Opposition Leader between 1998 and 2002, and Speaker of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, until he lost his seat to the then Wewak MP Kimson Kare during the 2002 elections. He was displaced as a minister in the Chan government for failing to vote in favour of constitutional reforms in the provincial system of government. In April 2009, The Guardian described him as one of Papua New Guinea's "living national icons", along with Michael Somare and Mal Michael.