WE KEEP VOTING FOR THE CORRUPT THINKING THEY WILL BE OUR SAVIOURS:

Some years back we got tired of Bernard Narakobi and voted him out of his Wewak seat after many terms serving PNG well. We got tired of Bart Philemon although he too served the nation well for many terms as representative of Lae. We booted out former PM Rabbie Namaliu from his Kokopo seat, presumably because he was so honest he was getting boring, and Moresby residents kicked Mekere Morauta out of office in 2007, probably because he wasn't handing out enough candy to intending voters.
On the other hand, we embrace with loving words dozens of some of the most corrupt human beings possibly to inhabit the planet. We don't bother investigating them. We simply love them, maybe because they are wantoks, or maybe because they are a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. But most likely we love them because they spent stolen funds or money essentially borrowed from the devil to buy SP cartons for us, or they tell us how beautiful we are in their eyes. It could be because they spend a year or two acting like they have a heart for the people. Whatever tactic they use, we seem to be exceptionally gullible at falling for their trick, giving them our votes, and then wondering why, once they are elected, they run away to Moresby (or maybe even Australia) for the next 5 years.
It is appalling to see well meaning people on the PNG social media saluting such demonstrably corrupt leaders as Belden Namah, Don Polye, Puka Temu, Julius Chan, Paias Wingti....... the list goes on and on. Are people actually ignorant of the investigations, the tied together stories and trends, and even sometimes the Leadership Tribunals that strongly indicate their corruption? Or do we close our eyes, shut our ears, and start talking as loud as we can (to drown out any dissenting voices) that he is our favourite, our favourite our favourite, the Son of Hela, or the Daughter of Lae, or the Cousin of Karamui or whatever. Why do we say openmindedness is good, then display some of the most narrow minded attitudes possible?
We throw away the good and we bring in the bad with each election. Another election period goes by, we say again that we've learnt to elect the right kinds of people, and turn around and make the same mistake all over again.
One problem is that we don't treasure those who sacrifice out of their pocket to help those who have no wantok or perhaps even cultural connections. A second problem is that we're too lazy to investigate what these candidates and elected politicians do when they think no one is watching them. A third error is that we vote too much for faces and personalities rather than ideas and philosophies. A fourth error is that we put more value into a politician who steals from the national purse to give to his electorate than a politician who above all, serves the national interest first and the local interest second.
The biggest error is that we fall too easily for sweet words coming from the candidate's mouth as they promise, promise, and promise things that they never intend to deliver.
Better that we put more value in candidates who tell us that the only way we're going to get ahead as a nation is to get much better educated than we are now, and put a lot more sweat into creating our own development. If the candidate then follows those words by getting into the mud themselves and start leading by example, then we know we'll have found the right person to represent us in parliament.
[Visit Niugini Outlook for perspectives and thought provoking comment on the hottest issues affecting PNG today. Our mission is to spread information that will strengthen people's resolve to fight corruption, inequality and injustice in PNG. We offer more than 1000 posters and associated short articles on our web site, all accessible from the entry page at www.facebook.com/niuginioutlook We appreciate your support and participation if you feel like giving it, and if you think we're performing a useful service to the nation, please give our page a like. Better yet, spread the posters and articles that you like to all your friends, using FB share, via email or photocopying and handing out. Do your part to help improve the education level of PNG because unless it does, we'll never be able to truly take charge of our nation.]

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