For those of you who have been following Papua New Guinean politics recently, one topic recently debated more in the media than it has been on the floor of Parliament refers to a recent investigative report done by the Post Courier. Not long ago, the newspaper headlined its front page with a report stating that US$40 million was deposited into a Singapore bank account - allegedly bribes from the logging industry to certain Members of Parliament. When one considers the lack of services and infrastructure that fails to reach the large majority of Papua New Guineans due to the injustice caused by the squandering of public monies, "the people's money", by corrupt politicians, people start to really get pissed off. I mean, wouldn't you? Think about it. When I first read this news article, I had imagined that anti-government sentiment would be brewing not just from anti-corruption lobbyists, but from all levels of society, beginning from the grassroots level. We are talking about a group of people who come from a country that is (and i stress) not poor, however have been subjected and deprived of a wide range of basic necessities such as health and education by a government that every now and then decides to allow its members a hefty allowance increase. Not that they seem to care much about also increasing the minimum wage of the average Papua New Guinean despite the fact that the cost of living has dramatically increased. It's when things like this happen that we begin to ask ourselves whether we should continue to tolerate the way we are being governed. In a normal democratic country, wouldn't you expect the head of the government to resign and let the rule of law prevail upon the discovery of such scandal and humiliation? Not quite.
Despite attempts by certain NGO's, individuals and anti-corruption bodies such as Transparency International to draw angst and resentment, all attempts did not produce such a result. Even the Opposition was gagged to raise questions on the floor of Parliament on this issue! So what hope is there when the House that sits our so called elected members - people that we vote to represent our best interests - are discouraged to let our concerns be heard?
Since, the Post Courier has stood by its report and handed it to the Ombudsman Commission, confidential briefs have been leaked to the media citing revolt and back-stabbing - certain members of the Prime Minister's cabinet are secretly pushing for the PMs possible referral to a leadership tribunal and more recently, the slay of words between Somare and former PM, Sir Julius Chan - after Chan publicly described Somare's leadership style to that of dictator, President Mugabe. Somare immediately retaliated describing Chan's time in the office of the Prime Minister as a historical hindrance to the development of Papua New Guinea.
It must be noted that corruption in our logging industry is not the latest scandal to have hit the fan. A number of reports by government authorities as well as external reports by the likes of the powerful World Bank have concluded that numerous logging operations in Papua New Guinea are illegal. Hooray! The truth is out and freely available. So what? Like the others that have come before it such as the infamous Moti Report, this too will get swept under the carpet as well as others that may "undermine Papua New Guinea's sovereignty", or "be a hazard to development". Thus far, anything that indicts Somare or tarnishes the reputation that he has earned, as "The Father of the Nation" will be rebutted and its grounds challenged. No play up here.
Although Somare assumed leadership through the democratic process known as an election as opposed to President Mugabe of Zimbabwe who assumed leadership, one thing is for certain: the rule of law in Papua New Guinea is severely undermined.
After so much exposure and expressions of revulsion from those who dared to speak, we haven't seen Somare use the same level of passion and flare that most politicians use when campaigning come election time...Why hasn't Somare used the same level of vigor to crack down on corruption within his own Cabinet. Or for that matter, prove and maintain his own innocence and integrity? What is there to hide or protect for that matter? This post is not to intentionally dishonor the contributions that our public servants have made to the development of our country, but to uphold the values of honesty, accountability and development that politicians over-use come speech time and importantly, to seek leadership. More vocal and hard-hitting evangelists of the law would argue that not all efforts have been fully exhausted. But we are lucky; we've still got forums to express our reactions. I've got my blog. How about the other eighty per cent of Papua New Guineans who live in rural areas and depend on a government that fails and cheats them repeatedly. Not merely by squandering millions and engaging in illegal practices but also in terms of representing them honestly and truthfully? What chance do they have when their representative-elect can't represent them? How do we evoke emotion, or better - nationalism, an identity as a collective? I believe that only until then, will we seem some definite change. Otherwise, those in power will remain comfortable because they haven't been hit hard enough to feel long-lasting tremors. To quote Thomas Jefferson: "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalised version of the first".
