PNGBLOGS

by LUDWIG MASI The resignation of the Elections Advisory Committee now reveals how the PNG National Elections 2017 were adulterated and corrupted. The reasons for the resignation of this committee comprised of eminent persons might be revealed later, but what is of most concern is the timing of their decision. These are learned people with standing in the society and their decision would have been a well-thought one. The decision decimates any doubt that the PNG elections were manipulated to favour the ruling party. The Electoral Commission of Papua New Guinea is an independent constitutional body established by the Constitution. The constitutional law defines its operations and functions. An independent body comprised of the Prime Minister (or his nominee), the Opposition Leader, Parliamentary Appointments Committee Chairman and the Public Service Commission Chairman appoints the Electoral Commissioner. It is a constitutional body that receives its funding allocation by Parliam

by JOSEPH GAWI PATRICK PRUAITCH STANDS OUT AMONGST THE WHOLE GANG OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS IN PARLIAMENT: He honestly believes that no matter how corrupt he is, he will never be prosecuted. This belief is made ever more strong by the fact that he has been caught or nearly caught many times. But nothing ever results in a conviction and Patrick Pruaitch remains free to smirk at the world knowing he has his protectors. Is it true that he actually believes it is God's will that he remain free to perpetuate his life of bribery and kickbacks? Or is it actually the devil at work here? More than any other PNG politician today, Patrick Pruaitch is the symbol of a system of justice breaking down nearly in its entirety whenever it comes to prosecuting VIPs or virtually any white collar criminals. Yes, Paul Tientsen got prosecuted and sent to jail but that's because he wouldn't do things the way the loose knit mafia of politicians who run our country expected him to do. He wouldn&

by APELIS TOKIVA PETER O'NEILL HAS DEDICATED THE LAST 4 1/2 YEARS TO PARALYSING ANY DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT DESIGNED TO KEEP CHECKS ON ANY LEADER AMASSING TOO MUCH POWER, THEN ABUSING IT:  He has successfully paralysed the ability of the police, fraud squad, ombudsman commission, auditor general, etc to investigate white collar crime or leader abuse of power by strangling them financially and if necessary, shutting them down physically.  He has successfully strangled the court system using his old strategy which has worked so well for his NPF fraud troubles and others in the past. Mounting endless court challenges passes time to the point the public forgets all about the case. That's when Peter O'Neill (and Jimmy Maladina) can make a deal, through bribery or intimidation (whatever it takes) to end the court case in his favour.  He has successfully castrated Parliament until it has become an easy to manipulate puppet, usually successfully warding of

by BRUCE HORRY Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s latest display of incompetence to abandon the much talked about Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and instead appoint an internal administrative inquiry into the controversial Manumanu Land deal comes with little surprise for a number of reasons. Firstly, as the Prime Minister, you should have been briefed prior to the announcement on which effective inquisitive avenues are to be invoked to attain maximum justice, if ever he was so interested in justice. Making a grand announcement for a CoI and later abandoning it raises so much suspicion. One that comes to mind is the fact that in an open commission of Inquiry, all persons would be compelled to testify openly. Information circulating within the corridors of power is that if they appoint a credible Commissioner for the CoI, it would unravel the different players in this deal and would inescapably incriminate Peter O’Neill himself. This to me proves to be a compelling reason for the abor

By Keen Observer The decision by the five men bench of the Supreme Court concerning the case against the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in relation to his referral for prosecution on the UBS loan allegations does not come as a surprise to many who have been keenly following this case. This is a situation where the outcome was designed right from the beginning and all fingers point to the Public Prosecutor, Pondros Kaluwin. Mr Kaluwin is a seasoned prosecutor whose entire career was with the Public Prosecutors Office. He knows the functions and powers of his office very well. The mistake that compromised PM O’Neill’s case is very rudimentary (basic) and therefore it is beyond believe that a person in the like of Kaluwin could make an innocent mistake or a professional misjudgment on a very important case. Like I said –this was designed. The Public Prosecutor committed two cardinal yet deliberate sins that deprived the people of Papua New Guinea justice in the case again

by DIANNE RUT Peter O'Neill's long-running legal battles were merely to protect himself. He managed to corrupt the independent institutions like Police and Ombudsman Commisson to protect him. He is spending millions of kina in legal fees legitimised by his corrupt Attorney General Ano Pala. He has cannibalised all the small parties including coalition members.  He has used the DSIP funds as a tool to force MPs to migrate to the Government, leaving the opposition weak numerically. Penetrating the Protected -Judiciary We have witnessed his unrestraint behaviour in exploiting and testing the limits of the Court process, ably assisted by legal predators. It is open secret that a few judges have been compromised in the process and stood up for him.  New Developments O'Neill has manipulated his corrupt government to introduce a bill without notice in Parliament today (23/3/16) to introduce a High Court. The Bill was never in the notice paper, nor was the idea of

AAP Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare hopes a last minute court challenge can stop a leadership tribunal probing allegations he failed to lodge yearly financial statements. Sir Michael, 74, who has been PNG's prime minister four times in a political career spanning more than 40 years, is due to face a three-member bench on Thursday, where charges dating back 20 years will be heard. This week, Sir Michael's lawyers filed a new Supreme Court challenge against the tribunal's proceedings, claiming the original Ombudsman Commission investigation into the prime minister was biased and had protocol and procedural flaws. Sir Michael's lawyers lodged the submission in an effort to either delay or derail the tribunal in what a senior legal source told AAP was "a very PNG situation", with the two proceedings running concurrently. Since 2008, Sir Michael has used the courts to fight the Ombudsman Commission - PNG's corruption watchdog - but his efforts fa

AAP Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare hopes a last minute court challenge can stop a leadership tribunal probing allegations he failed to lodge yearly financial statements. Sir Michael, 74, who has been PNG's prime minister four times in a political career spanning more than 40 years, is due to face a three-member bench on Thursday, where charges dating back 20 years will be heard. This week, Sir Michael's lawyers filed a new Supreme Court challenge against the tribunal's proceedings, claiming the original Ombudsman Commission investigation into the prime minister was biased and had protocol and procedural flaws. Sir Michael's lawyers lodged the submission in an effort to either delay or derail the tribunal in what a senior legal source told AAP was "a very PNG situation", with the two proceedings running concurrently. Since 2008, Sir Michael has used the courts to fight the Ombudsman Commission - PNG's corruption watchdog - but his effort

RADIO ABC A constitutional lawyer in Papua New Guinea says Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare should have automatically stepped down or be suspended, after a tribunal was set up to look into alleged misconduct in office. Doctor John Nonggorr says it's the first time in PNG's short political history a prime minister will face a leadership tribunal. The tribunal is made up of judges from the Supreme and Appeals Courts of New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Sir Michael is alleged to have failed, or lodged incomplete annual returns to PNG's Ombudsman Commission between 1994 and 1997. The Tribunal will start the inquiry on March 10. Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare says he will comply with the laws but will remain in office and allow the tribunal to rule whether he could be suspended or not. Constitutional lawyer Doctor John Nonggorr says Sir Michael should be made to step aside until the inquiry is complete. "Clearly the leader ship tribunal says that the laws t

RADIO ABC A constitutional lawyer in Papua New Guinea says Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare should have automatically stepped down or be suspended, after a tribunal was set up to look into alleged misconduct in office. Doctor John Nonggorr says it's the first time in PNG's short political history a prime minister will face a leadership tribunal. The tribunal is made up of judges from the Supreme and Appeals Courts of New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Sir Michael is alleged to have failed, or lodged incomplete annual returns to PNG's Ombudsman Commission between 1994 and 1997. The Tribunal will start the inquiry on March 10. Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare says he will comply with the laws but will remain in office and allow the tribunal to rule whether he could be suspended or not. Constitutional lawyer Doctor John Nonggorr says Sir Michael should be made to step aside until the inquiry is complete. "Clearly the leader ship tribunal says that the

OP/ED A community leader from Mt Hagen rang this newspaper last night to confirm what he heard on the radio - was it really true that a leadership tribunal had been set up to hear allegations of misconduct in office against the Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare? The call from this leader in the mountains might just have been another curious member of the public but more significantly, it shows the interest with which ordinary Papua New Guineans have in this particular case. The Prime Minister’s referral has been in the public domain for such a long time it has often been used as a political weapon against the Prime Minister by his opponents, for which there are many, because he has vigorously fought it legally. This remote community leader, far flung from the corridors of powers of Waigani, shows how Papua New Guineans country-wide have watched and waited for an outcome such as announced yesterday afternoon by the Chief Justice after a long time – a Leadership Tribunal to h

OP/ED A community leader from Mt Hagen rang this newspaper last night to confirm what he heard on the radio - was it really true that a leadership tribunal had been set up to hear allegations of misconduct in office against the Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare? The call from this leader in the mountains might just have been another curious member of the public but more significantly, it shows the interest with which ordinary Papua New Guineans have in this particular case. The Prime Minister’s referral has been in the public domain for such a long time it has often been used as a political weapon against the Prime Minister by his opponents, for which there are many, because he has vigorously fought it legally. This remote community leader, far flung from the corridors of powers of Waigani, shows how Papua New Guineans country-wide have watched and waited for an outcome such as announced yesterday afternoon by the Chief Justice after a long time – a Leadership Tribunal t

SAM BASIL MP Today is a sad day for PNG as people whom we had hopes on have been contaminated, and our hopes crushed. The former Chief Justice could have given a better reason than being defensive for the PM over the Leadership Tribunal. Look at how he described the reasons for the removal of Mr Tamata. He said Mr. Tamata was removed for non performance but failed to outline what sort of lack of performance. Did he mismanage the office? If so, what are the examples? Did he not do his constitutional duty? What are some examples? Was he cited for contempt for not allocating lawyers to attend to criminal cases/call-overs like his Predecessors? So what are the reasons at this very crucial moment when the whole nation is looking forward to see justice prevail? Can the former Chief Justice as a learned person justify his actions because you cannot afford to leave the people of PNG guessing? Otherwise, Sir Arnold is just another puppet, executing the PM and his family’s will and the only con

SAM BASIL MP Today is a sad day for PNG as people whom we had hopes on have been contaminated, and our hopes crushed. The former Chief Justice could have given a better reason than being defensive for the PM over the Leadership Tribunal. Look at how he described the reasons for the removal of Mr Tamata. He said Mr. Tamata was removed for non performance but failed to outline what sort of lack of performance. Did he mismanage the office? If so, what are the examples? Did he not do his constitutional duty? What are some examples? Was he cited for contempt for not allocating lawyers to attend to criminal cases/call-overs like his Predecessors? So what are the reasons at this very crucial moment when the whole nation is looking forward to see justice prevail? Can the former Chief Justice as a learned person justify his actions because you cannot afford to leave the people of PNG guessing? Otherwise, Sir Arnold is just another puppet, executing the PM and his family’s will and the onl

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

NATIONAL CORRUPT? OR CRAFTY JEFFREY NAPE NATIONAL Parliament Speaker Jeffery Nape has been referred to the Ombudsman Commission for not entertaining in parliament the opposition’s vote of no-confidence motion against the government in July. The opposition delivered its complain to the Ombudsman Commission last month and referred the abrupt adjournment of parliament for three months to Nov 16 was a tactic used by the government to avoid defeat through a vote of no-confidence. The complaint, which the Ombudsman confirmed receiving, said Nape was in breach of his duties and responsibilities of the leadership code provided under the National Constitution. “Our notice of motion for a vote of no-confidence was lodged but the speaker never had the matter listed on the notice paper for mention that day,” deputy opposition leader Bart Philemon said. “Nor did he (Nape) mentioned that such a notice of motion had been presented before his office and the manner in which it was to be dealt with.” Ph

NATIONAL CORRUPT? OR CRAFTY JEFFREY NAPE NATIONAL Parliament Speaker Jeffery Nape has been referred to the Ombudsman Commission for not entertaining in parliament the opposition’s vote of no-confidence motion against the government in July. The opposition delivered its complain to the Ombudsman Commission last month and referred the abrupt adjournment of parliament for three months to Nov 16 was a tactic used by the government to avoid defeat through a vote of no-confidence. The complaint, which the Ombudsman confirmed receiving, said Nape was in breach of his duties and responsibilities of the leadership code provided under the National Constitution. “Our notice of motion for a vote of no-confidence was lodged but the speaker never had the matter listed on the notice paper for mention that day,” deputy opposition leader Bart Philemon said. “Nor did he (Nape) mentioned that such a notice of motion had been presented before his office and the manner in which it was to be dealt wi