‘Stay clear’ of PNG’s political crisis, Marape tells public
Moresby: Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has urged the public to not get caught up in the country’s political crisis which has ended up in the courts.
Mr Marape’s Government appears to have staved off a vote of no confidence by quickly passing the Budget on Tuesday and adjourning Parliament to April.
But the move is being challenged in court by the opposition which gained a majority last week following a mass defection of Government MPs.
The Opposition leader, Belden Namah, with a majority of MPs behind him, moved a motion to adjourn Parliament to December 1 when a grace period on motions of no-confidence lapses.
But Parliament Speaker Job Pomat subsequently ruled that the motion had been “wrongly entertained” by his deputy and recalled the House. Former PM Peter O’Neill, one of the Opposition MPs leading the charge to remove Mr Marape, said the Speaker’s ruling was flawed.
“Flawed in the sense that in every occasion over the past 45 years only the Members of Parliament can adjourn Parliament by a resolution and a motion on the floor, when in fact Belden Namah on Friday moved the motion to suspend standing orders.”
57 members ‘gave authority’
“When you suspend standing orders that means the standing orders do not apply. Fifty-seven members gave him the authority. That is why he moved the motion,” he said.
Parliament achieved a quorum on Tuesday with less than half of all MPs present, when the Government passed its Budget, without the usual required debate. Mr O’Neill’s legal team has now filed a court application challenging the legality of the sitting, which the opposition was largely unable to attend.
While this was happening, the embattled PM summoned public service departmental heads, including Police Commissioner and Defence Commander, for a special briefing.
The message he gave them was repeated to the public at large, blaming the current crisis on MPs who he said were prepared to indulge in “cut-throat politics” at a time when PNG is faced by steep challenges caused by COVID-19.
“So let me at this time encourage our citizens, don’t you worry about politics that is taking place. Remain focussed at your job, leave politics to politicians, get on with your life.”