The exercise of political dissent in Papua New Guinea is long dead. Sadly, alternative views vital to the functioning of Papua New Guineas democracy and a critical, and participant political culture - much-needed in allowing Papua New Guinean civil society to act as a check on the activities of its governments is also dying a slow death. How so? Politicians and their cronies are going out of their way to discipline opinion-makers in the various think tank organizations or academic institutions of this country. A nascent civil society movement or citizens in Papua New Guinea are severely constrained in terms of exercising their Constitutional freedoms to free speech and association (peaceful protests). These days, it is almost impossible to get police approval prior to conducting peaceful public demonstrations. The threat of defamation lawsuits (show-me-the-evidence) is deployed to challenge and intimidate critics and informal channels of anti-corruption activism. The mainstream media is corporatized and politicized drumming home solely the point-of-views of business and political interests. Journalism in Papua New Guinea is merely a political advertisement job without any investigative and critical input into public discussions and public awareness. And finally, when a career in political activism in Papua New Guinea is associated with being suicidal (fear of intimidation, arrest, or worse), most Papua New Guineans - comfortable with their little daily routine of working for their bread and butter will not sacrifice their time, resources, and even life to a life that is unrewarding. Combined with a truly uncritical and largely illiterate mass, there is not much debate on national issues, much to the advantage of Papua New Guineas political elites who capitalize on the ignorance of the vast majority of Papua New Guineans! Good bye political dissent as I know it......!
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 17:01:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015