James Lagea

James Lagea is a Papua New Guinea politician. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the electorate of Kagua-Erave Open. He was initially elected on the Papua New Guinea Conservative Party ballot line, but joined the governing National Alliance upon his election to parliament.

Lagea, a public servant before entering politics, first contested the Kagua-Erave seat at the 2002 election on behalf of the People's Progress Party, when voting in Southern Highlands Province was cancelled due to widespread violence. He again contested the supplementary election in 2003, but lost to incumbent People's Democratic Movement MP David Basua. [Thomas, Theo. "Re-poll in Imbonggu". "Papua New Guinea Post-Courier", May 16, 2003.] [Alphonse, Andrew. "Agiru: SHP will see changes". "The National", August 31, 2007.] Lagea challenged the result in the Court of Disputed Returns, but was unsuccessful. [Taime, Mal. "Basua case thrown out". "Papua New Guinea Post-Courier", September 8, 2004.]

Lagea served as the chairperson of the organising committee for the celebrations surrounding the 30th anniversary of Papua New Guinean independence in Southern Highlands during 2005. [Tiptip, Nikints. "SHP celebrates with allocation". "Papua New Guinea Post-Courier", September 20, 2005.] He contested the Kagua-Erave seat for a second time at the 2007 election as the candidate of the fledgling Papua New Guinea Conservative Party and was successful, defeating Basua. ["95 candidates declared". "The National", July 30, 2007.] He subsequently joined the governing National Alliance Party and was appointed chairperson of the parliamentary citizenship committee. [Nicholas, Isaac. "MoA to govern". "The National", August 6, 2007.] [Nicholas, Isaac. "Parliament appoints committees". "The National", September 21, 2007.] He has pledged to work with other elected MPs from the province in improving the development of the Southern Highlands' natural resources. [Kolo, Pearson. "Big changes set for Southern Highlands". "Papua New Guinea Post-Courier", August 31, 2007.]

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