PNGBLOGS

PAUL REINBARA The recent Supreme Court Ruling on the reappointment of Sir Paulias Matane on Friday leaves a lot to be asked about this current government’s direction. There were a lot of questions asked when this matter was brought before parliament and if the parliamentary process to elect a new GG was stretched to its limits before Matane was drawn as the appointee. Between the two groups in Parliament we now see no debate at all, there is less time spent in addressing issues affecting the country, the game of cat and mouse and the cunning ability by the government to use its power in numbers with the usual puppet the Speaker have their ways before anything is even argued and a proper debate is held. Papua New Guinea needs to know the process we know called democracy and what it means in the Parliament, to me it sounds more to demonstrate craziness. Right now we have a bunch of monkeys in a zoo the so called House Tambaran fighting over bananas. We are fed with lies by cohorts such a

PAUL REINBARA The recent Supreme Court Ruling on the reappointment of Sir Paulias Matane on Friday leaves a lot to be asked about this current government’s direction. There were a lot of questions asked when this matter was brought before parliament and if the parliamentary process to elect a new GG was stretched to its limits before Matane was drawn as the appointee. Between the two groups in Parliament we now see no debate at all, there is less time spent in addressing issues affecting the country, the game of cat and mouse and the cunning ability by the government to use its power in numbers with the usual puppet the Speaker have their ways before anything is even argued and a proper debate is held. Papua New Guinea needs to know the process we know called democracy and what it means in the Parliament, to me it sounds more to demonstrate craziness. Right now we have a bunch of monkeys in a zoo the so called House Tambaran fighting over bananas. We are fed with lies by cohorts suc

AAP All instruments Matane signed are void Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has ruled the reappointment of the country's governor-general was unconstitutional and invalid. Controversy surrounded the June installation of Sir Paulias Matane, who critics said was appointed by the government despite numerous breaches of parliamentary process. On Friday, the full bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the appointment was unconstitutional because Sir Paulias was not selected after a secret ballot in parliament. Advertisement: Story continues below The court found Speaker Jeffrey Nape acted unlawfully by presiding over parliament at a time he was acting governor-general. "Sir Paulias shall cease to hold office as GG at 12 midday on Dec 2010," the court declared. "As soon as practical call a meeting of parliament to nominate the next governor-general, within 40 days of this order." Outspoken opposition member Sam Basil told AAP the Sir Michael Somare-led

AAP All instruments Matane signed are void Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has ruled the reappointment of the country's governor-general was unconstitutional and invalid. Controversy surrounded the June installation of Sir Paulias Matane, who critics said was appointed by the government despite numerous breaches of parliamentary process. On Friday, the full bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the appointment was unconstitutional because Sir Paulias was not selected after a secret ballot in parliament. Advertisement: Story continues below The court found Speaker Jeffrey Nape acted unlawfully by presiding over parliament at a time he was acting governor-general. "Sir Paulias shall cease to hold office as GG at 12 midday on Dec 2010," the court declared. "As soon as practical call a meeting of parliament to nominate the next governor-general, within 40 days of this order." Outspoken opposition member Sam Basil told AAP the Sir Michael

SOUTH PACIFIC POST We were inundated with telephone calls from our readers all day yesterday for news on the latest political developments in Waigani from our readers throughout the country. All we did was to inform them that the updates were still coming in and by the end of the day; we will have something solid for them. By the end of the day, we learnt that the Highlands Bloc of the National Alliance Party was meeting with the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, which culminated in a petition to the Grand Chief to rescind his decision to replace Don Pomb Polye with Sam Abal as the Deputy Prime Minister. Abal, the son of one of the Highlands region most respect Parliamentarians in the colonial era, was not present at this meeting, we were told. The Prime Minister is yet to respond to the petition, or if he did late last night after we went on to print it, we are not aware so it is safe to assume that Mr Abal, the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration Minister is the new Deputy Prime

SOUTH PACIFIC POST We were inundated with telephone calls from our readers all day yesterday for news on the latest political developments in Waigani from our readers throughout the country. All we did was to inform them that the updates were still coming in and by the end of the day; we will have something solid for them. By the end of the day, we learnt that the Highlands Bloc of the National Alliance Party was meeting with the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, which culminated in a petition to the Grand Chief to rescind his decision to replace Don Pomb Polye with Sam Abal as the Deputy Prime Minister. Abal, the son of one of the Highlands region most respect Parliamentarians in the colonial era, was not present at this meeting, we were told. The Prime Minister is yet to respond to the petition, or if he did late last night after we went on to print it, we are not aware so it is safe to assume that Mr Abal, the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration Minister is the new Deputy

PLATTS Work to reopen the world-scale Bougainville copper mine after a 20-year hiatus can potentially begin within two years, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare was reported as saying Monday. Restarting operations will cost an estimated $4 billion, Australian media quoted Somare as saying at the opening of the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment conference in Sydney. The Panguna mine on PNG's eastern island of Bougainville shut down in May 1989 after sustaining damage during a secessionist uprising in which the issue of how income from the mine should be distributed was a key factor. Bougainville's local media reported Monday that an agreement paving the way for the reopening of the mine had been reached with local landowners over the weekend. "We are very satisfied on the meeting's outcome," the president of shareholder association European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper or ESBC, Axel Sturm told Islands Post's online edition. "This gives

PLATTS Work to reopen the world-scale Bougainville copper mine after a 20-year hiatus can potentially begin within two years, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare was reported as saying Monday. Restarting operations will cost an estimated $4 billion, Australian media quoted Somare as saying at the opening of the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment conference in Sydney. The Panguna mine on PNG's eastern island of Bougainville shut down in May 1989 after sustaining damage during a secessionist uprising in which the issue of how income from the mine should be distributed was a key factor. Bougainville's local media reported Monday that an agreement paving the way for the reopening of the mine had been reached with local landowners over the weekend. "We are very satisfied on the meeting's outcome," the president of shareholder association European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper or ESBC, Axel Sturm told Islands Post's online edition. "This

OP/ED   Is Somare leading PNG to a Totalitarian State? On the 24 November, the Speaker of Parliament, Jeffery Nape wrote to Bart Philemon, the Deputy Opposition leader and MP for Lae. The subject of the letter was the notice of the No-confidence motion in the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. “The Private Business Committee met today and considered the notice of Motion of No-Confidence submitted. Following its deliberations, the Committee decided that the notice of Motion of No-Confidence was not in order,” the letter stated. Mr Nape went on to explain that even though the procedural requirements under the Standing Orders and Constitution were met, the subsequent withdrawal of four supporting members to the Motion means the requirements under Section 145 (1) (b) of the Constitution were not met. The MPs that withdrew their support were Charles Abel, Powes Parkop, Paru Aihi and Fr John Garia. Mr Philemon gave the notice on the Motion of No-Confidence to the PM on 20 July 2010, in acco

OP/ED   Is Somare leading PNG to a Totalitarian State? On the 24 November, the Speaker of Parliament, Jeffery Nape wrote to Bart Philemon, the Deputy Opposition leader and MP for Lae. The subject of the letter was the notice of the No-confidence motion in the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. “The Private Business Committee met today and considered the notice of Motion of No-Confidence submitted. Following its deliberations, the Committee decided that the notice of Motion of No-Confidence was not in order,” the letter stated. Mr Nape went on to explain that even though the procedural requirements under the Standing Orders and Constitution were met, the subsequent withdrawal of four supporting members to the Motion means the requirements under Section 145 (1) (b) of the Constitution were not met. The MPs that withdrew their support were Charles Abel, Powes Parkop, Paru Aihi and Fr John Garia. Mr Philemon gave the notice on the Motion of No-Confidence to the PM on 20 July 2010

OP/ED The allegations are of a plot it is alleged, by Sir Michael for police to arrest Government critic and Opposition MP Belden Namah. Mr Namah is a former minister in Sir Michael’s Cabinet who left the Government because he was part of an Opposition attempt to move a vote of no confidence in the Government. In a statement last night, Mr Namah (Vanimo/Green River MP) said the order for his arrest was over his criticisms of the government’s handling of high-profile controversies involving senior parliamentarians. Mr Namah said he was “informed” at the weekend of the highly confidential directive for his arrest. He then went on to accuse Sir Michael of using State institutions to silence leaders and citizens who dare to openly criticise the Government. Mr Namah’s allegation is very serious indeed. His allegation follows hot on the heels of activist Noel Anjo’s allegations of the Prime Minister ordering his forceful pick up by police and subsequent alleged assault by the Chief and his w

OP/ED The allegations are of a plot it is alleged, by Sir Michael for police to arrest Government critic and Opposition MP Belden Namah. Mr Namah is a former minister in Sir Michael’s Cabinet who left the Government because he was part of an Opposition attempt to move a vote of no confidence in the Government. In a statement last night, Mr Namah (Vanimo/Green River MP) said the order for his arrest was over his criticisms of the government’s handling of high-profile controversies involving senior parliamentarians. Mr Namah said he was “informed” at the weekend of the highly confidential directive for his arrest. He then went on to accuse Sir Michael of using State institutions to silence leaders and citizens who dare to openly criticise the Government. Mr Namah’s allegation is very serious indeed. His allegation follows hot on the heels of activist Noel Anjo’s allegations of the Prime Minister ordering his forceful pick up by police and subsequent alleged assault by the Chief and h

By SUSAN MERRELL The independence of the judiciary is a paradigm that underpins the rule of law in democratic states. Another well-accepted paradigm comes from one of the most famous historical judicial rulings: “Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” It was why in 2004 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone was successful in removing Judge Geoffrey Robertson from hearing their case. The ruling judge was not only asked to rule on whether the fact that Robertson had written extensively on the subject made him biased, but “…whether an independent bystander…or the reasonable man…[would] have a legitimate reason to fear…the lack of impartiality.” In some matters affecting the Pacific, occurrences where the “reasonable man” would have a reason to fear impartiality tend to go unnoticed. For instance, in the Supreme Court of Queensland last year where the former Attorney-General of the Solomon Islands, Julian Moti, was applyin

STEVE ZWICK On Monday, an article attributed to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare has officially denounced voluntary carbon schemes as being too risky.  The article – widely replicated in blogs and news outlets – said that Somare was encouraging forest owners to wait for a formal UN REDD regime before preserving their forests to earn credits for saving rainforests.  The message, however, is not posted on Somare's web page , and the voluntary programs he's denouncing were never verified to any recognized standard. It's just the latest in a series of weird signals to come out of PNG, which is under fire on both the compliance and voluntary carbon fronts. On the compliance front, PNG's handling of the REDD+ Partnership drew fire at UN Climate-Change talks in Tianjin, where scores of participants accused their negotiating team of stifling efforts to bring small landowners and indigenous groups into t

STEVE ZWICK On Monday, an article attributed to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare has officially denounced voluntary carbon schemes as being too risky.  The article – widely replicated in blogs and news outlets – said that Somare was encouraging forest owners to wait for a formal UN REDD regime before preserving their forests to earn credits for saving rainforests.  The message, however, is not posted on Somare's web page , and the voluntary programs he's denouncing were never verified to any recognized standard. It's just the latest in a series of weird signals to come out of PNG, which is under fire on both the compliance and voluntary carbon fronts. On the compliance front, PNG's handling of the REDD+ Partnership drew fire at UN Climate-Change talks in Tianjin, where scores of participants accused their negotiating team of stifling efforts to bring small landowners and indigenous groups

PNGEXPOSED The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has recently published an information sheet about its support for the development of Special Economic Zones in Papua New Guinea. The information sheet concludes with remarks about the proposed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang. “Is IFC involved with the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone? No” says the information sheet Then, to make it quite clear, it reiterates “IFC has not been involved with any of the arrangements for the PMIZ.” This is a far cry from the information the  IFC was putting out in June 2009 when it confidently declared its SEZ strategy for PNG… will also address the government’s plan to establish the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone promoting investment in onshore processing of regionally caught tuna.  The project made an important step forward yesterday when the PMIZ project’s National Management Committee and Technical Working Group, along with IFC representatives and members of t

PNGEXPOSED The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has recently published an information sheet about its support for the development of Special Economic Zones in Papua New Guinea. The information sheet concludes with remarks about the proposed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang. “Is IFC involved with the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone? No” says the information sheet Then, to make it quite clear, it reiterates “IFC has not been involved with any of the arrangements for the PMIZ.” This is a far cry from the information the  IFC was putting out in June 2009 when it confidently declared its SEZ strategy for PNG… will also address the government’s plan to establish the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone promoting investment in onshore processing of regionally caught tuna.  The project made an important step forward yesterday when the PMIZ project’s National Management Committee and Technical Working Group, along with IFC representatives and members of

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hela gas

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hel

OP/ED Don Polye is a good man. Well that is what we like to believe. The Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare must have faith in this bearded Highlander for he has allowed him to act as Prime Minister when the Chief had left to tackle work overseas for Papua New Guinea in recent months. And the future looks bright for the man from Kandep, who is seen as the next Prime Minister from the Highlands. The only other Highlands PM was also another bearded man from Western Highlands, Paias Wingti. Mr Polye is very vocal on corruption. He has gone public many times telling the country that corruption has no place in PNG. At one point in time, he was heard threatening to throw his own family behind bars and throw the keys away, should they get themselves involved in any corrupt dealings involving public funds. It is comforting to know that today, when the public has lost confidence in the Government and its implementation arm, the public service, there is at least one senior politician who is stand