PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The acting speaker of Papua New Guinea’s parliament has died of a heart attack on the morning of a scheduled sitting.

South Fly MP Aide Ganasi collapsed in the morning and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Port Moresby.

He had been due to preside over the resumption of PNG’s parliament later in the day, because Speaker Theo Zurenuoc is acting for the Governor-General who is seriously ill.

Parliament was suspended because of Ganasi’s death.

The Member for Maprik, John Simon, has been appointed to fill the speaker’s chair for the next sitting.

Ganasi was a member of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s People’s National Congress party.

As Speaker, he helped block Opposition attempts to hold a vote of no confidence in O’Neill, leading the PNG Supreme Court to intervene and order Parliament to vote in July.

Before being elected to Parliament, he served in the PNG Defence Force and was a border administration officer in Daru, in PNG’s Western Province.

The Minister for National Events, Justin Tkatchenko, said Ganasi’s death was “shocking and very sad news”.

“It’s hard to believe as this honourable member was a healthy fit person,” he said

“The prime minister is on his way to the hospital now to pay his respects to the western province leader.

“Unbelievable. May his soul be in everlasting peace.”

The Governor-General of Papua New Guinea Sir Michael Ogio is slowly recovering from heart surgery in an Australian hospital according to media reports from PNG.

Sir Michael was in intensive care in Brisbane’s Mater Hospital.

It reports the Governor-General has made good progress since being medivaced to Australia two weeks ago.

Sir Michael underwent coronary bypass surgery in Singapore in November last year.

Papua New Guinea is also mourning the death of its first female judge, Justice Catherine Davani.

Justice Davani, who was appointed a judge in 2001, passed away in a hospital in Brisbane on Friday after a battle with breast cancer.

She had been continuing her duties working in PNG’s National and Supreme Courts until recently.

The prime minister Peter O’Neill paid tribute to Justice Davani for her esteemed service to ensuring the rule of law in PNG.

O’Neill said her career provided a benchmark for the empowerment of women.

“Girls all around the nation can look to the example she set and aspire to break through barriers and be everything they want to be in their careers,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Tonga, ‘Akilisi Pohiva, remains on leave over health issues.

He is back in Nuku‘alofa after a medical check up last week in Auckland.

But Radio Tonga said he remains on leave because he is scheduled to return to New Zealand for treatment next week.