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POST COURIER'S FRONT PAGE OF THE PNG GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE JET OR IS IT NOT THE FORMER KUMUL ONE -SUPER KING AIR?

POST COURIER'S FRONT PAGE OF THE PNG GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE JET OR IS IT NOT THE FORMER KUMUL ONE -SUPER KING AIR?

New Prime Minister Peter O’Neill may have pulled off a coup last week but the Southern Highlander still has his work cut out for him. With the announcement of his cabinet last Friday, already the grumbling has begun from one quarter at least – the Sepik bloc. Three MPs who sided with new government – Ronald Asik (Wosera-Gawi), Dr Moses Manwau (Wewak) and Peter Iwei (Telefomin) – have voiced their displeasure at being overlooked for mi­nisterial positions. O’Neill has maintained that all stakeholders in his government were consulted and portfolios allocated after exhaustive consideration. Nevertheless, one cannot escape the fact that this looks like a backlash for the nine years spent under the yoke of Sepik dominion. At this stage, we are not sure how stable and secure the new administration may be but if the events of the past weeks and months is anything to go by, then no­thing is etched in stone. On the ministries front, O’Neill has assembled a talented group of individuals who had

New Prime Minister Peter O’Neill may have pulled off a coup last week but the Southern Highlander still has his work cut out for him. With the announcement of his cabinet last Friday, already the grumbling has begun from one quarter at least – the Sepik bloc. Three MPs who sided with new government – Ronald Asik (Wosera-Gawi), Dr Moses Manwau (Wewak) and Peter Iwei (Telefomin) – have voiced their displeasure at being overlooked for mi­nisterial positions. O’Neill has maintained that all stakeholders in his government were consulted and portfolios allocated after exhaustive consideration. Nevertheless, one cannot escape the fact that this looks like a backlash for the nine years spent under the yoke of Sepik dominion. At this stage, we are not sure how stable and secure the new administration may be but if the events of the past weeks and months is anything to go by, then no­thing is etched in stone. On the ministries front, O’Neill has assembled a talented group of individuals who ha

Next Prime Minister?? Mr Nape, whilst he is my hero, should for all intents and purposes be declared clinically schizophrenic. I don't even think he knows what he's going to do next, but it will be interesting I'm fairly certain of that. Sure he's made some dubious calls in favour of the now-deposed Somare/Abal govt. And whilst Belden and company made noise about blatantly disregarding the Constitution etc etc, legal redress was always available to them to challenge the validity but they declined to so is there a degree of hypocrisy from the now opposition that Mr "No Idea" Nape has woke up one day and decided that there is a vacancy so we can go straight to court? Any layman/woman that clearly can see when looking at Section 142 that Peter O'Neill and company cannot stand on any leg and rely on it to validate his election as PM, and it smacks of smugness and arrogance that the new PM or new AG has not come out to the media and stated unequivocally that

Next Prime Minister?? Mr Nape, whilst he is my hero, should for all intents and purposes be declared clinically schizophrenic. I don't even think he knows what he's going to do next, but it will be interesting I'm fairly certain of that. Sure he's made some dubious calls in favour of the now-deposed Somare/Abal govt. And whilst Belden and company made noise about blatantly disregarding the Constitution etc etc, legal redress was always available to them to challenge the validity but they declined to so is there a degree of hypocrisy from the now opposition that Mr "No Idea" Nape has woke up one day and decided that there is a vacancy so we can go straight to court? Any layman/woman that clearly can see when looking at Section 142 that Peter O'Neill and company cannot stand on any leg and rely on it to validate his election as PM, and it smacks of smugness and arrogance that the new PM or new AG has not come out to the media and stated unequivocally

AUSTRALIA’S prime minister, Julia Gillard, was quick to telephone her congratulations to her new counterpart in Papua New Guinea (PNG). She rang Peter O’Neill on August 3rd, just a day after he assumed office, reflecting the hope in Canberra that PNG’s incoming government might manage the affairs of state better than its predecessor—if it manages to survive an impending challenge in the Supreme Court. The chairman of the local branch of Transparency International, Lawrence Stephens, also applauded Mr O’Neill’s promise to fight corruption. Some in his cabinet have promising reputations, including the new minister for public service and sport, Bart Philemon, and Sir Mekere Morauta, himself the prime minister from 1999-2002, who played host to Mr O’Neill’s faction at his Toaguba Hill residence in Port Moresby last week as they prepared their parliamentary coup. But some caution is necessary. PNG’s governments are notorious for corruption, and ever run the risk of turning the state into a

AUSTRALIA’S prime minister, Julia Gillard, was quick to telephone her congratulations to her new counterpart in Papua New Guinea (PNG). She rang Peter O’Neill on August 3rd, just a day after he assumed office, reflecting the hope in Canberra that PNG’s incoming government might manage the affairs of state better than its predecessor—if it manages to survive an impending challenge in the Supreme Court. The chairman of the local branch of Transparency International, Lawrence Stephens, also applauded Mr O’Neill’s promise to fight corruption. Some in his cabinet have promising reputations, including the new minister for public service and sport, Bart Philemon, and Sir Mekere Morauta, himself the prime minister from 1999-2002, who played host to Mr O’Neill’s faction at his Toaguba Hill residence in Port Moresby last week as they prepared their parliamentary coup. But some caution is necessary. PNG’s governments are notorious for corruption, and ever run the risk of turning the state into a

Papua New Guinea’s deputy Prime Minister, Belden Namah has urged Papua New Guineans to support the new Government, as it instigates investigations into the disappearance of millions of kina in public funds. Namah, also called for cooperation from public servants, the private sector and civil societies, as the Government tries to instill some corrective measures. The disappearance of public funds will be among the top agendas for discussion when new O'Neill-Namah cabinet meets for its first session today. Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, says a team of special investigators, vested with prosecution powers will be engaged, to investigate the controversial 125-million Kokopo deal, among other corrupt dealings by the previous regime. Instead of a commission of inquiry, which normally takes up a lot of time in the past, O’Neill said his government wants to speed up the process as people of Papua New Guinea are demanding answers. PM O'Neill said they will engage a special investiga