The acting speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament has delayed a decision on whether to allow a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, Peter O'Neill, to proceed.
In a letter to the opposition leader, Don Polye, Aide Gansi said he has to check whether the members named in the opposition's motion had signed a letter requesting the vote.
Mr Ganasi says due diligence checks need to be performed to ensure the signatures are genuine and were properly obtained.
The move is likely to delay any vote until the next sitting of parliament.
Mr Polye says the move was a desperate attempt by Mr O'Neill to sabotage the motion.
Another of Mr Polye's attempts to file a motion was rejected last year because it was not properly written out.