A Note of Caution on Political reform
There is growing misconception in recent public policy debate that PNG should yet again look at Wholesale Political reform as the antidote to growing felling of disillusionment and general malaise among our Young that our system of Government is not doing enough for them. This view seem to find support with the Deputy Prime Minister and also echoed by the Prime Minister. Regrettably the premise upon which this view is based is misconstrued and erroneous. PNG does not need wholesale Political reform it needs fine tuning of the existing system.
The system of Government we have adopted at Independence as reflected in our country’s Constitution including the National Goals and Directive Principles and the Bill of Rights remains one of the best in the world. What PNG needs are leaders of integrity like those that sat and adopted the Constitution in 1975 to ensure that the dreams of our Constitutional Fathers as enshrined in the Constitution is up held and realised. The Prime Minister and his Deputy must attempt to emulate that generation of Self less leadership to install hope among our young generation of citizens and to inspire them to make a positive contribution to the Social Political and economic life on the nation .
As a Nation we should have Zero Tolerance for official Corruption, uphold the rule of Law , respects meritocracy and justly rewards hard work and have a Nation based on science and not ignorance .
In a essay published recently on that other great PNG social media site PNG Attitude, the writer using the nom de plume Karl Wermil has given us a definitive critique on what constitutes true leadership. Readers of PNG Blogs are encouraged to read his article.
PNG does need reforms but they are not Political reforms. The Political reforms are the easy one to attempt. The consequence and fallout is not hard hitting. It is the Hard reform on pressing social issues such as the Death Penalty, illegal Urban Squatter Settlements, Vagrancy and unemployment and the creation of a social Safety nets and the building of more inclusive society that should be the focus of this current Parliament.
The passing of the bylaws on the implementation of the death Penalty for violent crimes is what the Deputy Prime Minister and the Law Reform Commission should be concerning themselves with right now .
The next of the reform in order of Priority is to ensue that Leaders of integrity are elected to Parliament in their role as legislators and as member of Parliamenty Committees that are meant to check the Powers of the Prime Minister and the Executive government . We need Reforms in our Electoral Processes which should be seen as the first front line of defence in stopping cheats who are currently using the corrosive influence of Money to buy seats in Parliament and debasing public respect for the Institution of Parliament and Parliamentary Democracy under the West Minister system of Government.
There is no more time for debate and conferences , PNG will go back to elect its leaders in 3 years and we need to roll out and test new technologies now to see how we can harness these new technologies in the conduct of our Elections. The Prime Minister would do well to direct his Deputy to ensure that the electronic system is immediately trialled out in the by elections recently ordered by the Courts of Disputed returns so that the system can be used in the 2017 National Elections.
PNG needs the Deputy Prime Minister to focus on fine tuning the current machinery of Government to make it more Robust. We need the Deputy Prime Minister to make sure that the Processes of awarding Government Contracts is Transparent and he can start by making sure that the National Supplies and tender Board Website is not only updated but must give detail of the list of Bidders and the Amounts bided and provide the name and address of Winning Bids. The NSTB may want to see how small Australian Shire Councils deal with this issue of Transparency in the award of contracts and follow these models to remove the growing feeling that a certain group of People only are currently benefiting from Government Contracts
The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of Law Reform need to focus on ensuring that the Important Institution of state such as the Office of Public Prosecutor and the Ombudsmen and the office of the registrar of Political Parties are resourced well and expanded to meet the growing work load of their office so they can discharge their constitutional duty more diligently and in a timely fashion. Both men may want to look at Provisions in the law for the appointment of Special Prosecutors to Prosecute cases referred to it by the Ombudsmen commission or the Registrar of Political Parties so quicker outcomes can be reached on cases that involve our Leaders and Constitutional office Holders
As a Former Policeman the Deputy Prime Minister needs to make sure that the Police Fraud Squad is resourced well to investigate white collar crime and that young policeman coming out of our Police and Defence forces colleges are taught Police History so that they value the uniform they wear to emulate great men such as Sergeant Major Peter Simogun and Yawiga and Cpl Anis and Constable Buritori and Purari and many others since who laid down their life so this nation can be Born.
The Deputy Prime Minister can start with rebuilding the morale fabric of this society that has been eaten away by Laziness induced in part by a Political Leadership to scared to get our people to do a Hard days work. PNG needs to establish respect for hard work and needs a major infusion of work ethics and may want to seriously consider offering Dual Citizenship to over 25,000 Australians of PNG Descend and an other 3000 or so Australians Born in PNG and to redirect Aust Aid to deploy Australians in that Category to return to PNG an to be deployed as Provincial and District Administrators & Treasurers and as Head Masters and Police officers and to also consider deploying them within our civil service on secondment from the Commonwealth of Australia . PNG needs this infusion to bring a work ethic that can help the Nation make that paradigm shift in mind set that can only help make us stronger as a Morden nation State.
PNG doe not need more Political reform it needs Action and it needs it now with the Deputy Prime Minister Leading the way.
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