General elections were held in Papua New Guinea between 24 June and 8 July 2017. The writs for the election were issued on 20 April, and candidate nominations closed on 27 April. Michael Somare, the first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, retired as a Member of National Parliament at the election. Somare has served continuously since he was first elected to the pre-independence House of Assembly in 1968, an unbroken term of 49 years. On 1 August 2017 Peter O'Neill was re-elected as Prime Minister by Parliament by a vote of 64–40.