“The truth is already out. The truth is out there” – Papua New Guinea Opposition Leader Hon. Belden Norman Namah



Let me start by saying this, today I want to commend the sacked Treasurer Honourable Don Polye for taking a stance and going on the Talkback show with FM 100 this morning. A lot of things that I said today much of which I have been raising over the years, over the last couple of months has now come to reality. I want to make it very clear to Papua New Guineans since the Opposition has been raising many serious issues, issues of national importance to this country, to date Peter O’Neill has not answered all our questions or issues raised. Instead every time we raise the issues he has deviated and has been very deceptive in his response. He makes statements like Opposition needs to come out with its policies. He makes statements like Belden Namah should wait to become Prime Minister. I want to make it very clear to the Papua New Guineans - to educated and to every individual Papua New Guinean who are watching this TV tonight/ television tonight, who are watching the news tonight, who are going to read the papers tomorrow that it is not about Belden Namah being on the rush to become Prime Minister.

 It is not about the alternate Government policy. The issues in this country is about corruption, it’s about bad decisions by Peter O’Neill and his government. Today the sacked Treasurer in his Talkback show revealed to the people of this country the detriment of most of the decisions by Peter O’Neill and his government to the people of this country. Through the revelation today Papua New Guineans must know that Papua New Guinea runs at a debt of about 8 billion. By borrowing additional 1.239 billion our debt will go up to 12 billion Kina. We are allowed thirty five per cent every budget year to borrow, our GDP ratio to debt ratio. What has happened today the decision taken by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to unilaterally sign off that UBS loan deal will now prop up our ratio to percentage of debt to GDP to go up to about 47 to 50 %, but let me just make it very clear here that whilst I commend Honorable Don Polye in coming out on this UBS loan deal I want to also commend him for what I termed it as the revelation of the decade. I have maintained that payments to Paul Paraka lawyers of 71.8 million is a result of a directive by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. Peter O’Neill has since denied when I tendered the letter on the floor of parliament that his signature was forged. Today Papua New Guineans must know that the living testimony, the living authenticity of that letter is none other than Don Polye.

 Don Polye spoke today that he was directed by Peter O’Neill to facilitate the 71.8 million Kina payment to Paul Paraka lawyers. He said it was done during the impasse and during the eve of the election when the nation was going into election. This is an important piece of revelation. Opposition has maintained that without the directive from Prime Minister Peter O’Neill; the Treasurer and the Finance Minister including their Secretaries would not have acted. Don Polye revealed that he did his own due diligence but he was directed to ensure that these payments were released. What more are the law enforcing agencies waiting for? The truth is already out. The truth is out there. It is time now for law enforcing agencies, the police fraud squad and anti-corruption unit to arrest Peter O’Neill. He has been lying all this time and I have plainly termed him as the serial habitual and pathological liar and thief in this country. I do not regret, retract those words. He is a constitutional and economic terrorist. I also do not retract those words.

 I maintained that he’s the time bomb in this country. Ordinary Papua New Guineans must realize that the decisions that Peter O’Neill since he became the Prime Minister on the eve of impasse from 2nd of August 2011 up to now are very bad for this country. I want to also commend the three academics Papua New Guineans from National Research Institute who have come out and condemned the loan arrangement and here we have the Prime Minister coming and saying that these people are not there, their statements are not qualified. The guy is very deceptive and very clinical and surgical in rating his statements and getting away from the core issues that we raise in this country. You look at the Unitech issue; he comes out and says ‘Oh Opposition is trying to interfere with all these things’. I have no hand in what the University of Technology students at the university in Lae are doing. The guy has gone crazy. He is a madman running this country.

 There is no better description than that in a civilized society when institutions like the Ombudsman Commission comes out and stops this loan. The Prime Minister himself after sacking Don Polye usurps the powers of the treasurer and let me make it very clear when the Prime Minister takes all the powers of the other Minister he doesn’t become acting Prime Minister, he is the Minister. Like when he was the Police Minister, he was not acting Police Minister. When he sacked Don Polye and usurped the powers of the Treasurer he is the Treasurer. He was then the Treasurer when he made the decision to sign off the UBS loan.

When such intervention by Transparency International or the Ombudsman Commission do that on a serving Prime Minister in a civilized society in a civilized democracy Prime Minister resigns immediately. He resigns immediately. When the person whom he gave direction to, to make a fraudulent payment defrauding State of Papua New Guinea and the 7 and a half million people, Don Polye comes out and says that he was directed by Peter O’Neill not only written but also verbally directed him he should come out and resign immediately. Papua New Guineans let me make it very clear, this man has got only one agenda that is selfish – self - not Papua New Guinea; that is why I made a statement that Peter O’Neill is converting Papua New Guinea into a private property and not the property of 7 and a half million people. This is very, very serious.

Let me conclude here by saying that now that Don Polye has come out I’ve always urged other members of parliament you are elected to represent your people you are not elected to come and represent your own interest in parliament. You are elected to come and represent the interests of 7 and a half million people - those who voted for you. You have to come out and stand out as the leader representing your people. If it means sacrificing your own personal interests for the interests of others you have to sacrifice because that is what it takes of a leader! Today we see the members of parliament are different. They are not there for the interests of their people but rather for their own personal interests.

I want any other Minister who is in there you know that you are going to be sacked it’s better for you to resign than to be sacked and come out later and regret. Or any backbenchers in government you know that something is wrong with this Prime Minister come out and be counted as a leader in this country. Come out for the sake of our people, because I can warn the country that through this loan arrangement soon you are going to experience the rising prices of goods and services in this country. The fuel prices are going to go up, the zoom is going to go up, the prices of rice is going to go up, tin fish, tin meat, all these prices are going to escalate because of one man making decision for himself and not putting the interest of this country – so why are the rest of the members of parliament sitting and waiting and watching? I hear from a lot of people ‘oh we are waiting for the right time’.

When is the right time? For me the right time is when you see that the country is headed for disaster you have to come out and save this country. So once again I am calling on Peter O’Neill to resign immediately; failing which I am calling on all civil society, university students, trade unions, NGO’s to come out and demand immediate resignation of Peter O’Neill so that we can have a government we can have a Prime Minister that have people of Papua New Guinea at heart and not self-interest. The way I have been saying it, the way I have always been prophesizing is all coming to fulfilment and I am really thankful that the sacking of few Ministers in recent times I believe it’s not the working of Peter O’Neill but the working of the Good Lord.

 I am aware that Christians are praying out there. Christians are praying for God fearing leaders. Christians are praying for transparent and accountable government. I believe that God is about to deliver a transparent and accountable government to His people because we Papua New Guineans believe that we are a Christian country and I believe also that the prayers of those Christ

BELDEN NAMAH
Leader of Opposition

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