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Arthur Somare's K94 MILLION Blowback

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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Two Sydney money managers have demanded about $23 million in fees for two years work investing Papua New Guinea taxpayer funds, some of which dropped in value by about $10 million. And a company they directed also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in a referral or introduction fee to a former PNG prime minister's son in connection with getting the deal to invest the funds. The revelations have emerged from a row over $43 million of PNG government money that was squirrelled away in a small country bank branch in Lismore in northern NSW. The money is now the subject of a court case in NSW  involving the money managers and Papua New Guinea's third-party motor vehicle insurer, which owns the money. It has already sparked controversy in PNG with politicians raising concerns about how the $43 million fund, which belonged to the government-owned entity known as the Motor Vehicle Insurances Limited (MVIL), was  sent out of the countr

“There is no vacancy in the office of the opposition leader” - NAMAH

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“There is no vacancy in the office of the opposition leader,” Papua New Guinea Opposition Leader, Vanimo-Green MP & L eader of PNG Party, Hon. Belden Norman Namah said yesterday at midday on Friday the 28th of November, 2014. Whilst Opposition Leader Hon. Belden Namah was absent from parliament and on bed rest because of a ‘terrible migraine’, Kandep MP Don Polye who crossed over to the opposition benches only last week Tuesday called a caucus meeting without the consent of the Opposition Leader Hon. Belden Namah and proceeded on Thursday the 27th of November to have himself elected as Opposition Leader in what can be described as a ‘terrible farce’ and a power-hungry, power-grabbing & power-grubbing ploy perhaps to try and pull a coup within the Opposition. Political insiders see Polye’s move as premature (too soon and too fast) and possibly deliberately designed by Namah’s political opponents to cause division and disharmony within the Opposition team, particularly beca

“So what is the true status of the Opposition Leadership? Hon Don Polye is not yet the Opposition Leader!” – Alois Jerewai

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By Alois Jerewai In contrast to the post in the Social Media sites  by Bryan Kramer, while he is correct in most of the Parliamentary Structure he described in especially the selection or the election to the three arms of Government, I believe Mr. Kramer may have inadvertently sent the wrong signal that the Opposition Leadership had changed. Because the Office of the Opposition or the Opposition is not specifically created or provided for in our Constitution, the Parliamentary nature of our Legislature ensures it is recognized as comprising of MPs who stand declared as opposed to the majority who form the Executive Government led by the Prime Minister elected on the floor of the Parliament or installed by either a Vote of No Confidence or upon a vacancy occurring. After the return of the writs on a general election and a Prime Minister is elected, the opposing candidate for the position of Prime Minister is usually recognized automatically by the Speaker as the Opposition Leader! If

SACKED FORMER GOVERNMENT MINISTERS TEAM UP TO OVERTHROW OPPOSITION LEADER

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By BRIAN EPEKONE - PNGBLOGS Exclusive Sacked from O’Neill’s cabinet and after months of hanging around the middle bench to recently joining the opposition; the leader of Triumph Heritage Empowerment (THE) Party, Don Polye has “allegedly” made a political move to become PNG’s Opposition Leader. In a twist of events, Don Polye’s party is split; half his party members are still with the ruling regime being led by Deputy Prime Minister Dion. It is understood Polye and remaining members of his party have teamed up with Deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil to vote in Polye as the new Opposition Leader. In 2011 Sam Basil was part of the O’Neill/Namah cabinet when O’Neill ousted GC Somare to become PM. Earlier this year Sam Basil had resigned from the PNG Party to resurrect & lead the Pangu Party. He was reportedly seen seated in the middle bench, something he has never publicly denied. Incumbent Opposition Leader Belden Namah was reported absent from the behind the scenes leadership tuss

WHY I MOVED TO THE MIDDLE BENCH

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BY SIR MICHAEL SOMARE MP Mr Speaker I seek leave of Parliament to clarify the issue around some of the statement going through the newspapers and social media over the past few weeks relation to the establishment of leadership tribunals past and present. Mr Speaker, I want everyone in Papua New Guinea to remember that during my time as Prime Minister, in the last Parliament a leadership tribunal was setup by the Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia. The aim of this process was to look into allegations that as a leader I had failed to submit compete and timely annual returns to the Ombudsman Commission. The Leadership Tribunal was established after the Ombudsman Commission referred me to the Public Prosecutor for those breaches of the leadership code. Mr Speaker, the reason for my referral was very clear. My office was late in submitting my annual returns as required by the Leadership Code. Every elected Member of Parliament and some appointed office holders in this country are subjec

Retired New Zealand judge Sir Peter Blanchard to head inquiry starting January 26

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Post Courier PIC A LEADERSHIP Tribunal has been appointed to inquire into allegations of misconduct in office made against Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. It will be headed by a retired New Zealand judge Sir Peter Blanchard, who begins the inquiry on January 26 next year. Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia yesterday announced his decision to appoint the tribunal following a request from the Public Prosecutor on November 14. The allegations of misconduct in office are "that the Prime Minister failed to comply with administrative and financial processes, including the normal overseas borrowing process in the approval of a K3 billion loan from the Union Bank of Switzerland AG (Australia branch) to purchase shares in Oil Search Limited". It was further alleged that the purchase of the shares was in the interest of Oil Search Limited and not the State. Other members of the Blanchard Tribunal are retired Australian Federal Court judge John von Boussa and

Brief on Frieda- December 2014- 0n Issues of Ownership and Control and the Pre Emptive rights of the State in Resource Projects.

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BY GABRIEL RAMOI As  the Market awaits the Decision of the International Tribunal to be handed down early next year  in London in the case  referred  by Oil Search Ltd against Interoil on its rights  as an existing  Partners in the Elk LNG project  to be offered the first right of refusal to purchase any shares on offer by the project developer ,  the States own interest  relating to pre emptive rights   needs to be clearly   stated to avoid the situation  that has landed the Prime Minister  before the Leadership Tribunal  with respect to the UBS K3 Billion loan from ever rising again. All Hydro Carbon  resources  found  beneath the  surface of the earth and on our sea bed belongs to the State.  Mining Exploration Licences and  petroleum  Retention  Licences  are the property of the State  which reserve the right  to  enter into  and to invest in this  licences if it chooses too. While the Mining Act  and the Oil and Gas Act  allows the State to exercise its rights to take up to 3

PM EXPOSED WITH BIG HOLES IN THE 2015 NATIONAL BUDGET

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By JEFFREY RUNDUALI The Prime Minister’s economic and financial madness and stupidity have been exposed again by holes in the 2014 Supplementary Budget and the 2015 Budget. It is painfully obvious that both Budgets are already unravelling, within a week of being handed down. The cost to innocent hard-working Papua New Guineans - people unlike the Prime Minister and his konmen cronies - is likely to be very high. The profits will flow to the konman PM and his cronies and no one else. The cost of living will soar above even the current high levels, the value of the kina will continue to plunge, unemployment will keep on rising, and incomes falling. Poor people - the great majority of the people in settlements, rural towns and villages - will suffer the most from Mr O’Neill’s Budgets for the criminal elite like his cabinet colleagues and silent, secret partners in big business. Hidden away in the detail of the 2014 Supplementary Budget and the 2015 Budget are a number of t

NATIONAL BUDGET INCOMPLETE - NAMAH

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BELDEN NAMAH, MP We now have two budget speeches; one presented on the floor of Parliament on the 18th November, 2014 and the other one has been distributed outside of parliament as of this morning. We, the Opposition, maintain that the presentation of the 2015 budget is improper and incomplete and borders on fraudulent misrepresentation by the government. I want to highlight to the people of this country how ill-prepared the Prime Minister is. This is the first time in the history of this country and the commonwealth nation’s we are affiliated with that a government has come to the floor of parliament with an INCOMPLETE BUDGET; And for that matter distribute the budget speech outside of parliament. The Treasurer’s speech on the 18th of November on the floor of Parliament and the recently distributed speech shows a slight change on Page 4 of the Speech. The Budget Speech being distributed recently clearly shows there is a paragraph which was added in but wa