Gary Juffa: The myth of PNG’s ‘Middle Bench’ – don’t be fooled
by GARY JUFFA MP My advice for Papua New Guinea’s new MPs and their staff, minions, hangers on and supporters … Some words about the middle bench. It’s a myth. I should know. I was there believing that myth for the first two years of the last term of Parliament. The middle bench IS government. I attended government caucus from time to time and made critical reviews of government decisions. If you are allowed to attend government caucus…you ARE government. Why did I not choose the Opposition at that time? Because I believed the myth of the “Middle Bench” … Little difference And I saw little difference in either side at that time…with the government seeming to be a slightly better option. I hoped I could do more to influence government decisions for the better. How wrong I was. The benefit of hindsight has since proved otherwise. Well at that time both government and opposition seemed like bad choices, just flipsides of the same coin, and I honestly thought there w