Pages

Monday, August 6, 2007

"Five years is a long time to live with a bad choice"

Writing about PNG politics is not my forte and discussing it works me into a frenzy. I have lost all faith in the political system since the Sandline Crisis of 1997. In the last ten years my beloved country has suffered much. We've gone from bad to worse to put it simply with the gap between the havs and have nots growing, inflation rates high, allegations (and cases) of corruption rife in the Government and its departments and the distribution of basic services to the people slow if not non-existent. The 2007 elections have ended with the last couple of winners being declared last week and with race on for camps to woo ministers in order to form a majority that will be invited by the Governor General to form the new government.
The following letter to the Editor in the Post Courier struck a chord with me and I share the same views as this man. I am adamant that without the right people at the wheel PNG will be up shit's creek without a paddle.

Chan, Morauta and Philemon a dynamic team

Chan for PM. Brilliant! The headline of the Post-Courier on August 2, lit up my gloomy sky, but for a moment.
Sir Julius Chan at the helm with Mr Bart Philemon and Sir Mekere Morauta on the flanks as Treasurer and National Planning ministers is the dream team on offer.
This trio combined is the antidote PNG badly needs. This is what the doctor ordered and the election delivered. The "people have spoken" nonsense should not be used to intimidate independents to surrender to National Alliance (NA) because the race for the PM post is still wide open. NA’s 26 seats out of 109 is not the majority.
They should blow their trumpet if NA won 55 seats or more.
The Chan, Morauta and Philemon package is the long-awaited prospect of vast experience, achievement and future promise currently on offer. This golden opportunity to rescue PNG from more corruption runs until August 13. Five years is a long time to live with a bad choice. We'll never ask for a better combination free from radical family members and one ethnic group running the show. There is no room for nepotism here as the trio is culturally and geographically diverse as New Ireland, Gulf and Morobe yet with a powerful combined CV as economic visionaries, reformists and sound finance managers.
The three of them united is the hard drive that will propel this nation forward into prosperity and beyond. The National Alliance is still infected with the Moti virus, the Finance Department corruption virus, nepotism virus, the suppressive anti-competition virus against telephone companies and the hijack virus where the taxpayer’s Kumul One is being hijacked for party politics. Where is the Ombudsman Commission?
I am appealing to the many good independents and leaders of smaller parties to think critically for our children's future. The last government is still infected with these unresolved issues and you certainly will be contaminated by association. You may never even go to Australia with people like Sir Michael and Luther Wenge on your side with James Yali soon to join NA. PNG politics is most colourful during the election of the prime minister. The fiercely fought horse trading, cloak and dagger moves of stealth and suspense in smoke filled rooms, MP lock ups, hopping in the wrong bus, getting nabbed in the spooky Parliament corridors, MP look-alikes running off with money bags, the list goes on, yet all that drama costing millions of kina and weeks of intense lobbying goes to waste in the minute that matters when the prime minister is elected. Our politicians write a script that rivals Hollywood when it comes to formation of government. I just hope Peter O'Neill, Moses Maladina and other independents are in Kokopo to test the waters. The game is not over until the fat lady sings. God bless PNG.

– John Kross
Port Moresby
SOURCE: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20070806/mohome.htm (06-08-07)

No comments:

Post a Comment