RACE TO REPLACE SOMARE HEATS UP

OSEAH PHILEMON

In the next 24 months, the people of Papua New Guinea will be heading to the ballot boxesd to elect their MPs and, of course, a new government.
In the last two elections, they voted for a government, headed by the founding Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, and his National Alliance Party.
Now the government of Grand Chief Somare is sailing into stormy seas mid-way through its second five-year term as it prepares for the 2012 general election.
Somare has indicated he wants to quit politics and take a rest after 40 years in national politics.
His health is not at its best and that may be part of the reason he is wanting to retire from a job he knows more about than any other politician in Papua New Guinea.
In the years since independence in 1975, Somare did say from time to time that he would retire from politics, only to see him emerge again with the help of his party to lead it to the next election, and ultimately, in government.

CONTROVERSIES

This time no one knows exactly what he will do. But over the years since he has led government, none has been riddled with controversies than the present one.
The controversial Julian Moti Affair will simply not go away and questions remain about his role in what has been widely seen as a serious breach of Papua New Guinea's civil aviation, defence and other laws, as well as breaches of Solomon Islands laws.
But he is adamant he has not broken any laws and will not resign from office.
Then, there is the Taiwan dollar for diplomatic recognition which to-date remains unanswered. No one knows what actually happened and which ministers and officials of the Somare government were involved.
Then, the question of the US$40 million, supposedly hidden in a Singaporean bank being used by a government minister for election purposes. No explanation has been forthcoming regarding those involved and where the money came from.
Various other questions remained unanswered over the relationship of various government members with Chinese and Malaysian businessmen, as well as allegations of bribery and corruption against members of government.
On top of all these, Somare’s son, Arthur, who is the Minister for State Enterprises, and Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch have been referred to the Public Prosecutor for prosecution before a leadership tribunal on charges of misconduct in office.
Pruaitch is now under suspension but Somare and his son Arthur are still fighting the Ombudsman Commission through the courts, challenging the charges against them.
The Ombudsman Commission on 22 July 2009 referred Pruaitch, a Member for Aitape-Lumi Open in the West Sepik Province near the PNG-Indonesia border, to the Public Prosecutor for alleged misconduct in office.
On 28 February 2006, the commission referred Somare, then minister for National Planning and Monitoring and Member for Angorm Open in the East Sepik Province, to the Public Prosecutor for prosecution for alleged misconduct in office.
The Ombudsman Commission alleged that Somare had failed to give his annual leadership statements on time for the period from 16 July 1998 to 15 July 1999 and from 16 July 1999 to 15 July 2000 and 16 July 2000 to 15 July 2001.
These annual statements detailed his assets, income, gifts, business interests and dealings and debts, and liabilities over those years.
The commission also alleged that in March 2002, Somare had received K250,000 from the Office of Rural Development—to spend on projects of his own choosing.
But the Ombudsman says that according to the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments and the National Executive Council's approved guidelines for district support grant, the leader does not apply for the funds himself.
The law requires the district treasury to apply for the funds on behalf of the Member of Parliament to fund projects of his choice.

ALLEGATIONS

The commission alleged the leader deposited the K250,000 into his electorates trust account, held at the Australia and New Zealand Bank Ltd Waigani branch.
He then applied for the funds in the form of unverifiable cheques to individuals, made cheque payments to various accounts for various activities and withdrawals for which no details were available.
On 26 June 2008, the Ombudsman Commission referred Somare to the Public Prosecutor on allegations of misconduct in office.
The commission alleges that Somare failed to furnish annual statements for the period 16 May 1993 to 15 May 1994, 16 May 1995 to 15 May 1996 and 16 May 19996 to 15 May 1997.
He also failed to submit five annual statements when due. These are for 16 May 1998 to 15 May 1999, 16 May 1999 to 15 May 2000, 16 May 2000 to 15 May 2001, 16 May 2001 to 15 May 2002 and 16 May 2003 to 15 May 2004.
The Ombudsman Commission also alleged that the Prime Minister submitted incomplete annual statements for the periods 16 May 1992 to 15 May 1993, 16 May 1993 to 15 May 1994, 16 May 1997 to 15 May 1998, 16 May 1999 to 15 May 2000, 16 May 2000 to 15 May 2001, 16 May 2001 to 15 May 2002, 16 May 2002 to 15 May 2003, 16 May 2003 to 15 May 2004 and 16 May 2004 to 15 May 2005.
The Ombudsman Commission stated that the Prime Minister was given the right to be heard which he exercised. But it was not satisfied that the leader had discharged the allegations.
It further found there was a prima facie evidence that the leader was guilty of misconduct in office in relation to all three categories of allegations.
The Prime Minister was informed of the commission’s decision through his lawyers.
Since then, Somare has mounted a legal challenge seeking among other things to permanently restrain the commission from continuing with its investigations.
The courts on 24 June 2008 refused an application by the Prime Minister to temporarily restrain the commission from carrying out its constitutional functions.
However, Somare is still fighting the matter through the courts and it will be sometime before the final outcome is known.
The suspension of Pruaitch and the likelihood that Arthur may also be heading the same direction raises serious issues about the leadership of the Momase region in the National Alliance.
For a long time there’s been speculation that Somare may be grooming his own son to take over the leadership of the party from him. This may not now be possible.

THE HOT CANDIDATES

The other hot candidate was Pruaitch but he too is now fighting his own leadership battle with the Ombudsman Commission and may not know the conclusion in time for the 2012 general election.
The other more likely candidate is the Governor of Madang Sir Arnold Amet, the former chief justice of the National and Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea.
He too has his own crisis to deal with in the court of disputed returns over his election as the regional Member for Madang.
Businessman Peter Yama challenged Amet’s win in court claiming Somare when campaigning for Amet urged voters not to vote for him (Yama) because he is a polygamist. The matter went to court and it upheld the challenge.
Amet is seeking a judicial review of the matter and has asked the court to allow him to remain as governor while the matter is being considered by the court.
Effectively, he is not a Member of Parliament and a by-election needs to be held. However, it cannot be held until his appeal is held and determined.
So again in terms of finding a successor for Pruaitch as the Deputy National Alliance leader for the Momase region, the two likely candidates—Arthur and Amet—are now out of the race. So who then will be the next to be considered?
Vanimo Green MP and Minister for Forest Belden Namah—a former captain in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force who played a crucial role in the infamous Sandline Affair with Major General Jerry Singirok, the then commander—is a likely candidate.
Another likely candidate is Somare loyalist Timothy Bonga—chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.
Bonga has been close to the Somare family for many years and is considered a confidant of Somare. He is the Member for Nawae, an Open electorate in the Morobe Province.
Can Bonga be given enough votes to take over the regional Momase leadership from Pruaitch?
The National Alliance party is not saying much about this hot issue at this stage.
Papua New Guinea is divided into four regions—Southern which comprises all the Papuan provinces of Western, Gulf, Central, Milne and Northern or Oro; and then the Highlands which has the provinces of Eastern Highlands, Chimbu, Jiwaka, Western Highlands, Enga, Hela and Southern Highlands.
The Islands region comprises the island provinces of Bougainville, East and West New Britain, New Ireland and Manus.
The north coast mainland provinces of Morobe, Madang and East and West Sepik form what is called the Momase region.
Somare comes from East Sepik Province in the Momase region.
The National Alliance Party has four deputy leaders, each representing a region.
So the search for a new deputy for Momase remains a controversial issue at present as the hot candidates are now fighting the Organic Law on Leadership and the Ombudsman Commission for their political survival through the courts.
Will they know the results in time for the 2012 general election? Only time will tell.
But the bigger issue for the National Alliance is whether Grand Chief Somare will retire permanently from politics after the term of this parliament. If he does, the party will be plunged into chaos as intense lobbying will be on for a successor.
Everyone will be out there trying to win party endorsement to be its next leader to succeeed Somare. But the question is who among them stands out to be the next credible leader for the top executive chair of the government in Waigani?

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 13, 2010 at 8:59 AM

    Should there be a change of government, might I suggest that the incumbent PM request a substantial special AusAID grant to engage hardnosed investigators and prosecutors (perhaps Australians who would not be subject to PNG wantok and political pressure, but also working with the PNG investigators and prosecutors who have been emasculated by politicians) whose sole task would be to bring to court the perpetrators of the massive frauds that have occurred.

    It will not be easy nor safe work, but there are committed people who can and will do the job.

    This would be in tandem with an immediate application to lift the injunction on the Department of Finance Inquiry Report, conveniently placed by Somare and his cronies. There are many perpetrators in that report for whom 10 years in Bomana would be a refreshing change.

    ReplyDelete

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