Well…actually… I don't know any personally, but in my studies I have
encountered many. They have similar
characteristics. Their methods are eerily
formulaic in their sameness.
WARNING:
The people to whom they dictate rarely live
'happily ever after.'
Belden Norman Namah is Deputy Prime
Minister of Papua New Guinea, Minister for Forestry (a handy portfolio when
your personal fortune is tied up with logging), Minister for Climate Control
(ditto), Acting Minister for State Enterprises and Acting Minister for Defence.
Under the circumstances, there's little
wonder another commentator called him 'Belden the Ubiquitous' (Please forgive me if he's returned any of
his acting ministries to their rightful owners and I've missed it)
Namah is a Prime Ministerial 'wannabe'; an
ambition he informed me of personally because he is someone with whom I'm acquainted.
Late last year, he puffed out his fleshy
chest and boomed: "After December
8, I WILL BE THE PRIME MINISTER OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA." Nostradamus he aint.
Nevertheless, as a military man, I much
admire Namah's record in Bougainville – his sacrifice was beyond doubt. Yet, Adolf
Hitler won the Iron Cross, First Class for bravery in the First World War and
we all know what he went on to do, don't we?
The word 'military' seems fatally attracted
to the word 'dictator' -
Idi Amin, General Franco of Spain, Pinochet
of Chile, Mussolini, Muammar Gadhafi, Suharto of Indonesia… I could go on, but
I think you've got my point.
There are signs that the O'Neill/Namah
government are going down the path to a dubious political future, in a push led
largely by the ostentatiously wealthy Deputy Prime Minister.
Ominously, ostentatious wealth is a
characteristic of many of the most heinous dictators. Idi Amin, for instance,
who was often characterized as a buffoon.
Command
of the army
Rationale: 'He who commands the army, controls the
nation:' is a well-known paradigm that I'm sure is taught in - 'military
intelligence 101'. (Although I've always
thought that 'military intelligence' was an oxymoron.) It's no mere coincidence that many dictators
are military men.
Belden Norman Namah is a graduate of Australian
Military College, Duntroon, rising to the rank of Captain in the PNGDF (or was
that lieutenant? - Information surrounding his military service is a bit
elastic.)
During the recent attempt at a military
coup by the Somare faction, Belden really showed them who had the upper
hand. In fact, so in need was the Prime
Minister of Namah's 'iron fist' that he made him Acting Defence Minister.
Guma Wau, the actual Minister for Defence
is not happy at Namah usurping his role.
That's too bad for Wau, who will be adequately taken care of soon by
those charges of stockpiling illegal ammunition that was found at his home. Pure serendipity? The co-incidences of good fortune just keep
piling up for Namah.
Quashing
of opposition and the formulation of a 'one party state'
Regimes. Most sub-Saharan nations following
independence, including Congo and Rwanda. Also the former Soviet Union and
Liberia, where the ruling party managed to hold onto power for more than a
century this way.
It seems to be yet more good fortune for
O'Neill/Namah that they have no official opposition, save for two members. What
motivated the wholesale defection of Somare supporters to this new government?
Altruism?
Ha!
Ben Reilly in his paper entitled Africanisation of the Pacific points out
that being part of the state machine is the best (sometimes only) means of
gaining wealth and accessing and exploiting resources in many Pacific nations –
as such being on the winning side is everything – staying in power imperative -
see below.
Suspend
the Constitution
Example: The military
government of Suriname suspended the constitution on attaining power in
1980. When in 1982 there was a push for
return to civilian control the military government responded by murdering 15
people – journalists, lawyers and trade union leaders (see paragraph
'Censorship').
Namah is currently in the process of a push
to defer elections. His reasons seem
well…reasonable (if you disregard the Royal visit furphy). Ah yes, but the government will need to suspend
the constitution to do this legally.
More serendipity?
Yeah right! This government is like a
window; you can see right through them.
Without a constitution, the executive and
legislature has no checks or balances - the people of PNG are left exposed and
vulnerable, dependent on governmental goodwill. History tells us that dictators
very rarely have any.
"No one is above the law," said
Namah. With his legislative numbers, the
law is what he wants it to be - and if not he can change it. The Supreme Court's role is to interpret the
Constitution - but under these circumstances there won't be one in use.
So far, the CJ has refused to let the
executive suspend him, so rendering him redundant would be the next best thing.
Bingo!
Nepotism
and patronage
Example: Many dictatorial
regimes retained power by putting their cronies into well-paid, powerful
positions. Furthermore, they often
mollified those who may have harboured dissension by patronage of a similar
sort. If that didn't work they were often
'fitted up' (flashback to Guma Wau) or sometimes just…disappeared.
Charles Litau, a PNG party apparatchik was
made head of Telikom, recently. Then
there was Mrs. Maladina, wife of the eldest Maladina son who got the plum
Brisbane diplomatic posting. Other
Maladina sons include Moses, Minister for Public Service in the Somare
government and one of the August defectors who was given the Urban Planning portfolio
in the new government. Then there's Jimmy whose name is inextricably linked to
that of Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill by an alleged fraud carried out on the
National Provident Fund - still to be investigated by the recently appointed
corruption 'Sweep team'. Is it
politically expedient to keep this dynastic family happy?
Perhaps both were merely the best people
for the job?
Ethnic
Persecution
Ethnic
persecution, while not confined to military dictatorships is nevertheless a
feature of most of them. Uganda springs immediately to mind, as does Nazi
Germany.
Of all the corruption cases in PNG that
could be investigated, the balance has been weighted in favour of those implicating
Somare or his 'kitchen cabinet'. First
it was Arthur's baby, the IPBC, then it was the tabling in parliament of the
discredited Defence Inquiry. But by far the most questionable investigation has
been against the East Sepiks who were the instigators of the Supreme Court
Reference against the legitimacy of the current government. Go figure.
The people of the East Sepik closely
identify with Sir Michael Somare and ethnic persecution by association is written
all over this investigation. There needs a wholesale suspension of disbelief not
to suspect ulterior political motives.
Censorship
Example: To give a
single solitary example would be to downplay the importance of controlling
information in dictatorial regimes.
Apparently, the National Intelligence
Office is monitoring your every utterance and PNGeans are tasked with being
"vigilant" against dissenters and to report them. The Nazis encouraged the same.
Well, Ben Micah, tell your bosses that the
people of Papua New Guinea are watching them too.
It's time to bring this ominous political
trajectory to a halt. It's time to turn
Belden the Ubiquitous into Belden the Irrelevant. There's a viper in your midst, PNG
