One prominent observerof the country says Prime Minister Peter ONeill should have stepped aside after being served with an arrest warrant. Professor Allan Patience from the University of Melbournes Asia Institute is speaking to Radio Nationals Geraldine Doogue Presenter: Geraldine Doogue Speaker: Professor Allan Patience, University of Melbournes Asia Institute PATIENCE: It is very dramatic, yes. Its got many sign of acts of desperation going on in PNG politics, but I should note, or we should note I guess, that this is not rare for Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea over the last 30 odd years has been in and out of all sorts of crises of this order. DOOGUE: Yes, but I notice, for instance, the sacked attorney-general gave a press conference that our reporter, Liam Cochrane reported on saying if you keep going down this path, you head towards versions of dictatorship. And actually, I mean it sounds dramatic and I dont think theyre there, but there are some very disturbing elements to this, arent there? PATIENCE: Thats true, thats true. Its especially worrying that the Taskforce, the Anti-Corruption Taskforce Sweep which was doing some very, very good work in tracking down some of the endemic corruption that has bedevilled Papua New Guinea for many, many decades now, that thats been swept aside, so to speak, and that the attorney-general, who was one of the best ministers in the Cabinet and one of the most balanced has been replaced by somebody whose likely to do the Prime Ministers bidding. These are very worrying developments. Plus the fact that now the Prime Minister has intervened in the Police Force. Normally, Cabinet appoints the Chief Commissioner of Police and he then, the Chief Commissioner, is able to appoint his deputies. The Prime Minister now is taking over that role, so were seeing an incredibly blurring of the separation of powers in Papua New Guinea, which is quite worrying. DOOGUE: But also, yes, and theres quite a lot of hints that this man he has appointed to head to the police, isnt approved of by the rest of the police. This is an extraordinary set of circumstances I would have thought? PATIENCE: It is. The police force itself is split, clearly, there are those who believe that they should be fearlessly pursuing issues or criminal activities that they see anywhere in the political system, and on the other hand, there are people like the new Acting Commissioner, as hes called at the moment, who are likely to be much more inclined to do the bidding of the politician. So there is a split in the police force, and thats worrying as well. DOOGUE: I thought that Peter ONeill was in effect the big new hope of PNG, that he represented the future and grasped some of these givens of a modern democracy, thats certainly how hes been portrayed. Was that misplaced? PATIENCE: Its an interesting thought. The first thing to note I think is that Peter ONeill has widespread support in Papua New Guinea, theres no doubt about that. Hes seen, when he came to power, he was seen as replacing a very tired and worrying government that had been bumbling along for quite some years. He came promising to clean up corruption, he came with all sorts of .......... DOOGUE: Well, he set up, sorry to interrupt. He set up Taskforce Sweep, didnt he, which, in 2011, as one of his first acts? PATIENCE: Absolutely, and he was making promising to reform education, which is disastrous, the heath system, which is collapsing. He made all of these promises and it looked very good, but he also was a man who came with a reputation. Weve got to remember that Papua New Guinea has got this long tradition of systemic corruption at all levels and that includes nearly all of the politicians and wed have to be fairly sceptical about some of the promises hes made and now his past is coming back to haunt him, particularly his relationship with the legal firm, Paraka Lawyers. DOOGUE: Yes, maybe we should, if you could describe as well as you can whats involved here? PATIENCE: Well, Paraka Lawyers, which is big legal firm run by one of the more notorious members of the legal profession in Papua New Guinea, Paul Paraka. This company or this firm has been able to attract a great deal of government money by pursuing all sorts of legal actions that the government has needed over the years. But its also accrued a massive amount of, or it claims a massive amount, like millions-and-millions of kina, or millions of dollars that the government has been reluctant to pay, because there were some doubts about it. Now, the Prime Minister appears to have signed a letter that ordered the government to pay these millions to the company, to the law firm, and thats whats at the centre of this real problem at the problem at the moment, just why did ONeill if he did sign that letter, why did he do it and why is his he trying to get it now swept under the carpet? DOOGUE: And I think theres also allegations that theres a subsequent phone call that has been detected of the Prime Minister allegedly referring to an earlier letter implying that theres sort of two versions or two references to this letter and that that has also sort of been one of the sparks of this latest move? PATIENCE: Thats correct, yes. His denials that he signed the letter are looking increasingly problematic for him. DOOGUE: However, lets assume he is telling the truth, because he says its become political and that in effect hes being framed. Who would be trying to frame him? PATIENCE: Hmm, thats the difficult question. I mean there would be suggested that somebody in the police would be trying to, at very senior levels and that this might be linked to the Opposition in Papua New Guinea and are trying to create some kind of political crisis. But I dont think the view that hes being framed is holding much water any longer. Hes got a case to answer and the right thing for him to do would have been to step aside until the whole thing has been cleared up. And its very interesting that what looks like a really serious act of desperation. Hes now seriously undermining democracy in Papua New Guinea to save his own skin. DOOGUE: Now, Australia is PNGs major donor and this is part of the suggestion is that that money that we fund goes straight into certain politicians hands. Im not saying him, Im just saying this is part of the issue for us. So were the major aid donor. Should we be intervening or what can we do if theres a real drift there? PATIENCE: Oh, this is a very big question. Indeed, youre right. Australia is the number one aid donor to Papua New Guinea. Billions of dollars of Australian taxpayers money has been sunk into the country since independence and weve got nothing at all to show for it. The illiteracy rates are increasing, the maternal and infant mortality rates are amongst the worst in the world and so on. The whole development project shows that PNG has got a long history of weak incompetent governance and Australian aid dollars seem to have made that situation worse, rather than improved it. DOOGUE: And just before we leave the Australian, of course, its a private Sydney firm, Forensic Documents Services Limited that has actually provided the alleged evidence that it is the Prime Ministers signature. So were sort of deeply in there? PATIENCE: Well, were not an official level. That was a private arrangement between the Taskforce Sweep and that firm in Sydney, which by the way, is a highly reputable one and well regarded. So its not the Australian government in being involved in anyway. It was the officials in Papua New Guinea who initiated that. But yes, I think Australia has got a role to play. Its much more a long term role and its got to be a much more subtle role. But weve got to start and trying to arrange our aid arrangements with Papua New Guinea so that they start to work. - See more at: m.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/calls-for-png-pm-to-step-down/1331234#sthash.jKXbt2ki.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 21:29:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015