PNGBLOGS

The Speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament, Jeffery Nape, has been arrested on bribery charges. Nape was arrested last Saturday on allegations of attempting to bribe a rival candidate to drop out of the 2012 election in his province of Chimbu. "Police have a constitutional duty to attend to complaints from citizens; in this case a candidate vying for Nape's Sinasina-Yongomugl seat laid a complaint with police," provincial police commander Augustine Wampe told The National Newspaper. Nape, who denied all charges, was released on 2000 kina ($963) bail and is expected to appear in court after the election. As Speaker he was instrumental in sowing the seeds of PNG's recent political crisis after he suddenly announced on August 2 last year the prime ministership was vacant. The decision to allow a vote ousted incumbent PM Sir Michael Somare and elevated his former treasurer Peter O'Neill to the job. Nape continued to preside over parliament but had a few more leg

The Speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament, Jeffery Nape, has been arrested on bribery charges. Nape was arrested last Saturday on allegations of attempting to bribe a rival candidate to drop out of the 2012 election in his province of Chimbu. "Police have a constitutional duty to attend to complaints from citizens; in this case a candidate vying for Nape's Sinasina-Yongomugl seat laid a complaint with police," provincial police commander Augustine Wampe told The National Newspaper. Nape, who denied all charges, was released on 2000 kina ($963) bail and is expected to appear in court after the election. As Speaker he was instrumental in sowing the seeds of PNG's recent political crisis after he suddenly announced on August 2 last year the prime ministership was vacant. The decision to allow a vote ousted incumbent PM Sir Michael Somare and elevated his former treasurer Peter O'Neill to the job. Nape continued to preside over parliament but had

By MIKE HEAD A national election called by the unconstitutional, Australian-supported government in Papua New Guinea has become a shambles, forcing an unscheduled third week of polling in seven provinces. Voting in the Eastern Highlands province will now end on July 17—11 days after the original July 6 national deadline. Logistical breakdowns, combined with allegations of violence, corruption, vote-buying, ballot box-stuffing and the exclusion of enrolled citizens from voting, have thrown the elections into disarray. An extension of time was granted by Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio on the advice of Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen. The disruptions have cast doubt on the hopes of de facto Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, and his backers in Canberra and Washington, that the elections would end months of political instability, and provide a veneer of legitimacy to his administration. Because of the mountainous terrain and lack of infrastructure across the country, the elections were

By MIKE HEAD A national election called by the unconstitutional, Australian-supported government in Papua New Guinea has become a shambles, forcing an unscheduled third week of polling in seven provinces. Voting in the Eastern Highlands province will now end on July 17—11 days after the original July 6 national deadline. Logistical breakdowns, combined with allegations of violence, corruption, vote-buying, ballot box-stuffing and the exclusion of enrolled citizens from voting, have thrown the elections into disarray. An extension of time was granted by Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio on the advice of Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen. The disruptions have cast doubt on the hopes of de facto Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, and his backers in Canberra and Washington, that the elections would end months of political instability, and provide a veneer of legitimacy to his administration. Because of the mountainous terrain and lack of infrastructure across the country, the elect

By: Simon Simbiken Belden Namah has unique leadership qualities that is lacking in PNG’s political arena. He demonstrates good attributes of no-nonsense, spot-on and straight shooting rather than beating around the bush, especially when it comes to fighting corruption. He embraces transparency and good governance. He works hard and is disciplined character with a military background. He is free from the books of corruption and he discourages systemic and systematic manipulation of due processes which has been responsible for malpractices and corruption. Namah is the answer to PNG’s political and administration problems. He will deliver PNG out of evil men who feed from Haus Tambaran and Morauta Haus. He is here to fight corruption and promote good governance, transparency and unity amongst diversity Through unique leadership of Namah, Papua New Guineans can now distinguish between: good as against evil, transparency as against corruption, straight as against crooked, patriotic leadersh

By: Simon Simbiken Belden Namah has unique leadership qualities that is lacking in PNG’s political arena. He demonstrates good attributes of no-nonsense, spot-on and straight shooting rather than beating around the bush, especially when it comes to fighting corruption. He embraces transparency and good governance. He works hard and is disciplined character with a military background. He is free from the books of corruption and he discourages systemic and systematic manipulation of due processes which has been responsible for malpractices and corruption. Namah is the answer to PNG’s political and administration problems. He will deliver PNG out of evil men who feed from Haus Tambaran and Morauta Haus. He is here to fight corruption and promote good governance, transparency and unity amongst diversity Through unique leadership of Namah, Papua New Guineans can now distinguish between: good as against evil, transparency as against corruption, straight as against crooked, patriotic lead

By MIKE PEPPERDAY  Australia and New Zealand have propped up Pacific countries since their independence. They can go on propping up the micro-states indefinitely but Papua New Guinea, with its 6million people and its resources wealth, is becoming independent of our handouts. Private security companies are moving in and guns are flooding the country. The prospect is for civil strife and takeover by the colonels. The news stories of slush funds and “big man” chicanery indicate a terrible misapprehension. The reason that the government of PNG has deteriorated since independence is not the locals’ innate cultural defects. PNG’s problem is its unworkable political structure. In 1975, the Whitlam government set up PNG with a single chamber of parliament (a “unicameral” system) to which MPs were elected from single-member electorates (so-called “majoritarian” representation). This design – a single chamber composed of electorates each represented by a single member – has never w

By MIKE PEPPERDAY  Australia and New Zealand have propped up Pacific countries since their independence. They can go on propping up the micro-states indefinitely but Papua New Guinea, with its 6million people and its resources wealth, is becoming independent of our handouts. Private security companies are moving in and guns are flooding the country. The prospect is for civil strife and takeover by the colonels. The news stories of slush funds and “big man” chicanery indicate a terrible misapprehension. The reason that the government of PNG has deteriorated since independence is not the locals’ innate cultural defects. PNG’s problem is its unworkable political structure. In 1975, the Whitlam government set up PNG with a single chamber of parliament (a “unicameral” system) to which MPs were elected from single-member electorates (so-called “majoritarian” representation). This design – a single chamber composed of electorates each represented by a single member – has

By JOHN FOWKE The published comments of foreign writers/journalists unknown in PNG may be annoying to many but are not worth wasting time upon. I refer in particular to the piece recently printed in the Australian Financial Review. Anything by, for instance, Rowan Callick or Sean Dorney, to mention two Australian journalists who have longstanding connections with PNG are worth considering. Others are to be ignored. But more to the point, ol lain PNGBLOGS followers, there is, right now a glimmering of the start of a real discussion upon the need for, and the best form of, a reformed political structure for PNG. This discussion is starting to take place on the blogs of a number of erudite PNG'ans. The discussion may go on for long, but one hopes that it will build  momentum and arrive at a logical conclusion where a much better, fairer, more culturally-aligned system of representation, execution and administration  arises in PNG. PNG is firmly set on the path of democracy because a