WAS SPEAKER THEO ZURENUOC UNDULY INFLUENCED IN 'HASTILY' RECOGNIZING DON POLYE AS THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION?
(Transcribed)
“You know fighting over positions is…it’s not a very good thing to do. We have to respect due processes and procedures that is before us in this stage, in this instance the parliamentary conventions, the rules of law and in all due respect common sense to prevail. There has been much said about the Opposition Leadership. I want to make this statement to the people of our country to the silent majority, who are out there, who have stood behind the position that Opposition has taken under my leadership from the first day of the formation of the ninth parliament up til now our stance against corruption, our stance against major breaches in the Constitution; that I want to make it very clear that the meeting held in this room immediately after the parliament had risen on the eve of Thursday last week was not called by me who is the incumbent Opposition Leader."
"As far as I am concerned to call a parliamentary caucus it will be the prerogative of the incumbent Opposition Leader to call all the members of Opposition together to discuss issues of importance and if it has to do with leadership I will call the caucus and put on the table the issue of Opposition Leader if it was required. At that material time, I was not present. I had earlier informed my Deputy Honourable Sam Basil, Honourable Don Polye that I was sick as of Tuesday afternoon after our Budget reply and on Wednesday I was sick and also on Thursday. I informed them. I would have thought that individuals with common sense would have given courtesy to myself as the Leader of the Opposition and considering the fact that I was absent and I had already informed them that they would have deferred this so-called caucus to a later date."
"They wrote to me…minutes calling for a meeting. In fact the minutes was addressed…not addressed to me…addressed to themselves to call for a meeting. I advised Honourable Don Polye and other members of the Opposition that there was no urgency in calling such a meeting and there was absence of the agenda of the meeting in that minute that they circulated. I didn’t know what the agenda…agenda was. Obviously as we all know by now that there was a hidden agenda and that was the Leader...ah…the position of the Leader of the Opposition."
"I wrote to the Speaker, also told the Speaker that they…you must follow the parliamentary conventions and that I said that we have adapted the British laws that when a member…Opposition becomes Opposition after the election of the Prime Minister and those who choose to vote against the Prime Minister automatically become Opposition and among them an Opposition Leader is elected who then leads the Opposition as the Opposition Leader; and I informed the Speaker that if there was any election it should be held in the next meeting of parliament and that was to be held on the 10th of February 2015 and it would have been proper and if we have to respect each other as Leaders in this country it would have been done in my presence. I would have called for that meeting and vote would have been taken by secret ballot to elect a new Leader of the Opposition. As far as I am concerned that was not done."
"My brother Don came and convened a meeting when he was not the Opposition Leader. He had just moved into Opposition in less than 10 days from some middle bench somewhere after being kicked out from O’Neill Dion cabinet and in haste decided to say ‘Oh I’m going to be a Opposition Leader in the absence of the Leader of the Opposition’. Anyhow I do not want to dwell on it. He has gone ahead to conduct a meeting and decided to elect himself as the Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker has written to him and to myself recognizing him as the Leader of the Opposition. I think Speaker made a fundamental mistake…as by leaving his chair and coming into the opposition caucus and trying to dictate what Opposition does."
"Now I have warned Speaker of major breaches of standing orders of parliament. Not adhering to due processes and procedures of parliament and you heard, Papua New Guineans heard me in the fiasco involving the…the ill-prepared budget up til now.”
The exchange of words between the Leader of Opposition Belden Namah and Speaker Theo Zurenuoc two days before the improperly convened caucus meeting called by Don Polye, held on Thursday November 27, 2014, may have influenced the Speaker into recognizing Don Polye as Opposition Leader during a meeting with Don Polye on Thursday November 27th, 2014 and then in a letter dated December 2nd 2014, despite the fact the house had already risen on Thursday November 27th, 2014.
In particular the Opposition Leader pointed out to the Speaker on the floor of parliament at the time that his conscience troubled him over fundamental breaches that he believed had been made regarding the handing down of the 2015 National Budget. The Opposition Leader specifically asked the Governor of Southern Highlands, William Powi if he can sit down and listen carefully, and further told William Powi...”go back read your section 200, subsection 1 (2), subsection 2 of the standing orders - section 197 of the standing orders.”
The Opposition Leader also said “Mr Speaker, it is the first time in the history of this nation that the government has come to this parliament ill-prepared to present its budget. This serious blunder is an absolute mockery of the Legislative process by the Executive Government.”
“This blatant act of defiance of the Budget Appropriation process, Mr Speaker, must render the general Public Services Appropriation Bill 2015 improper before this parliament for the third and final reading. Mr Speaker you have ruled already but let me remind this house that the order in which the executive government has come and presented this Budget is not proper. The Opposition believes that it should be re-presented because of the fundamental error that the executive government has committed… “
The Speaker replied: “Honourable Leader of the Opposition there was no fundamental error. I have already explained the...the standing orders to you. That’s why I think you need to...ah…withdraw that particular.”
To which the Opposition Leader said amidst interjections (muttering in the background): “Mr Speaker, you continue to rule that’s okay but you are setting a bad precedence for the future governments. Mr Speaker I should remind you that this is your parliament. You are the head of the legislative arm of Government. The executive Government is accountable to you and the honourable members of this parliament. The executive Government must not be allowed to run over this parliament and dictate the processes of parliament or abuse the... and trample on the processes of parliament. You have a duty Mr Speaker to protect the dignity of this house and the integrity of the processes of this house. To do otherwise would make you serve and accomplish with the executive government in the act of destroying the fundamental fabrics of government and Statehood of this beautiful nation of ours.”
The Speaker responded: “Honourable Leader, honourable leader I must remind you that you may be bordering on… ah…being very disrespectful to the…to the chair…so… ah…please…I think…I think you should concentrate on the crux of the matter that’s to debate…”
Belden Namah in his press conference on Thursday also said, “All I have been advocating is that, you know, the laws of this country must be upheld. We must follow the due processes and procedures that are before us. We must respect the Institutions of State. In any case Don and Sam Basil with two other members held a press conference yesterday…there Don Polye declaring himself as Leader of the Opposition. I have no issue with that, I have no issue with that.”
"I’ll be writing to the Speaker that ‘okay you have recognized this meeting that was not sanctioned by me as the incumbent Opposition Leader in the absence of myself and Dr Marat who was out in his electorate. You have recognized them but I believe that, you know, Speaker should exercise some common sense that he (Polye) can only formally take over the Office of the Opposition on the 10th of February. I think the best time is on the 10th of February and we’ll hold a secret ballot and then after that because the parliament will be on the 10th then we can go with the resolution to the Speaker and Speaker can announce on the floor of parliament after that election who is the Opposition Leader. I think he should wait for that time. I don’t know why the rush."
"From my intelligence and from what I predicted was going to happen was spilled out in the press conference yesterday. One of the major stands by the Opposition was compromised yesterday by the so-called self-elected Opposition Leader Don Polye when he said that he will support the asylum seeker arrangement on the Manus Island. Opposition maintained that we will vigorously fight in the courts of this land, in our mother land, to protect our constitution that the arrangement on the Manus Island the asylum seeker arrangement is in breach of Section 42 of our Constitution. We maintained that and the matter is before the court and I do not wish to dwell on it. For somebody who was in the decision making of the O’Neill Dion cabinet to come into Opposition, take over the leadership and to say no I support the Manus Island Seeker centre what I feared most happened yesterday. This will now compromise most of the major constitutional issues and the corruption issues that Opposition has been raising so far; the matters which are before the courts, and they are also before the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption and before the Ombudsman Commission for that matter."
"If Don has come out and said that he is going to support the asylum seeker arrangement on Manus Island, number one, that’s not what the Opposition stands for. Opposition went against that arrangement and I won’t be surprised that he will come out and support the complaint that I laid on the Parakagate be with-drawn, because it directly implicates Peter O’Neill, Don Polye and James Marape; and number two, I won’t be surprised that he will say that he agrees with the thirty months grace period because if you recall when that final reading, the third reading, was conducted on the floor of parliament when the other members of parliament wanted to debate only one person that debated on the issue was Dr Allan Marat the Shadow Minister for Attorney General and Justice. Immediately after that Don Polye said ‘Question be put’, meaning that there’ll be no more debate and let’s pass it. So of all this time Don Polye was part and parcel of all these major issues that Opposition has been fighting against and they are before the courts, before the Fraud Squad."
"I want to warn the Papua New Guineans, the citizens, good citizens of this country that yesterday’s statement alone compromised the entire Spirit of Opposition to fight against corruption, to fight (for) transparency and accountability in this country. That is the fear I have always had and I still have today and the suspicion that we have someone who has come to downplay, to compromise the Office of the Opposition was seen yesterday and it’s the biggest fear that I have now and I want to warn the people of this country that that is what is going to unfold if Don Polye continues or claims the position of the Opposition Leadership in the manner in which he did; otherwise like I said from the beginning I’m not a guy that fights over position. If he wants to have it, come and let’s do it properly. Let’s do it properly. Have a proper election. Let me be present in that election. Let’s conduct a secret ballot and let the …let the members of the parliament…and you have the majority obviously you will be elected. What’s the rush? You know we’re not going to miss out. If you want to get on the fast train you know that train might have an accident and people in the train might die, so let’s slow down. Take it easy and do it properly. Thank you."
Yesterday, on Friday, December 5th, 2014, incumbent Opposition Leader Hon. Belden Norman Namah said “Polye can wait until February 10, 2015 to assume opposition leadership. He can assume leadership after the Speaker has announced on the floor of parliament the changes in opposition leadership.”
