<p class="title">Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill stalled his announced resignation and took legal action to prevent a vote of no confidence on Tuesday, deepening the country's political crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The veteran leader launched what appeared to be a last-gasp bid to cling on to power, pressing the Supreme Court to thwart a planned parliamentary vote to remove him from office.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Facing mounting criticism, O'Neill on Sunday announced that he would step down, but has so far avoided formally submitting his resignation to the country's governor general.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill who has been in power since 2011 is battling for his political life after a string of cabinet resignations sparked by his signing a multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with France's Total and US firm ExxonMobil earlier this year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Local communities had complained bitterly about not benefiting from similar deals in the past.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill's government narrowly avoided a vote of no confidence after the signing by adjourning parliament for almost a month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On the eve of lawmakers' return and with a new confidence vote planned for June 6, O'Neill lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a lengthy filing, O'Neill said he wanted to "ensure clarity of constitutional and legal processes".</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court on Tuesday refused to hear the case urgently and set proceedings for Friday, according to opposition lawmaker Brian Kramer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill's opponents believe they have the votes to oust him, but there is so far no agreement on a consensus replacement.</p>
<p class="title">Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill stalled his announced resignation and took legal action to prevent a vote of no confidence on Tuesday, deepening the country's political crisis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The veteran leader launched what appeared to be a last-gasp bid to cling on to power, pressing the Supreme Court to thwart a planned parliamentary vote to remove him from office.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Facing mounting criticism, O'Neill on Sunday announced that he would step down, but has so far avoided formally submitting his resignation to the country's governor general.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill who has been in power since 2011 is battling for his political life after a string of cabinet resignations sparked by his signing a multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with France's Total and US firm ExxonMobil earlier this year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Local communities had complained bitterly about not benefiting from similar deals in the past.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill's government narrowly avoided a vote of no confidence after the signing by adjourning parliament for almost a month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On the eve of lawmakers' return and with a new confidence vote planned for June 6, O'Neill lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a lengthy filing, O'Neill said he wanted to "ensure clarity of constitutional and legal processes".</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court on Tuesday refused to hear the case urgently and set proceedings for Friday, according to opposition lawmaker Brian Kramer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">O'Neill's opponents believe they have the votes to oust him, but there is so far no agreement on a consensus replacement.</p>