Political Commentary By David Levi PORT MORESBY- Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape attempts to gain control of the country by hook or by crook is dangerously shaking the fundamental state apparatus and the very pillars that uphold democracy. First the police then the army and now the Electoral Commission Marape holds them all in a terrifying grip and is squeezing to submit them to his will. With the help of the already compromised security forces and the slackness of a totally indecisive and incompetent Electoral Commissioner Marape has no problem walking his will through. The Marape onslaught is two fold; destroy the winning chances of his opponents and force win for his own Pangu Party candidates. This strategy worked well in Hela where polling started early and is being swiftly replicated across the country.
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Written By David Kawage Bitno
Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the unified armed forces of PNG originating from the Australian army in 1973 before Independence and having its precursors in the Pacific Island Regiment. Today the PNGDF is a small force consisting of a Land Element, an Air Operations Element and a Maritime Operations Element. It is a joint force tasked with defending Papua New Guinea and its territories against external attack, as well as having secondary functions including national-building, internal security tasks, civil emergencies and humanitarian responses. The current manpower of more than 3,600 defence personnel compares to a ratio of 1: 188 soldier against our neighbour Indonesia with almost a million soldiers of 675, 500. There are times when the military of both countries faced-off with each other with conflict upsurge in the borders. The size of the PNGDF is to be increased under the Defence White Paper 2013 to 5,000 personnel by 2017 then to 10,000 by 2030 subsequently upgrading the military command from Brigadier to Division. Pertaining to the political-philosophers such as Karl Marx and Max Weber, the authority of a leader is exercised in three ways i.e. traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority. In traditional authority, the legitimacy of the authority comes from tradition, in charismatic authority from the personality and leadership qualities of the individual (charisma), and in legal authority from the belief in the society's laws. This exposes the million dollar motive to find the best leadership tool among the three authoritative systems.
As Marx mentioned, traditional authority is derived from the concept of patriarchal mastery in family units. Respect for the rule of inheritance and compliance to the patriarch is consistent, though there is no real means of enforcing obedience. Today Hela mourns the death of true, fair and democratic elections whilst the perpetrators celebrate the fruits of their evil labour. Feelings of despair and hopelessness grip the Hela land far and wide. Even those in the celebration circles know deep down in them that what had happened in the elections will remain a huge scar in the Province’s history. Based on the conduct of elections in Hela in 2022 and in many parts of the Highlands region I honestly believe that democratic processes of elections are under seized by power hungry people. Hela people have witnessed a massive election fraud conducted province-wide jointly by certain candidates, electoral commission agents, senior public servants, warlords and gunmen. By Hizay Porex : Political Commentary Marape's premeditated plan to camp at vanimo (Sepik) under using Late Grand Cheif Sir Michael Somare is obvious political play to lure NA and other coastal political party leaders. During media statement Marape said " he was choosing Vanimo as new camp for Pangu Party to form New Government. I had to choose Vanimo because Tomb of our Late founding father is also their. It would also signify the Pride of sepik and NA as first political party to gain Independence for PNG"🇵🇬. Remember❗ Marape knows that he was chosen to be a Pangu Party leader on a Golden plate. Marape's trick can be identified if you use a logic to level a political trends. Commentary by Okuk Rogerson Reckless PNG PM James Marape begging for money as always, previously told Australian PM Hon Scott Morrison point blank if you don't give me money i will go to Beijing. Australia has since supported PNG with a few billions in low interest loans, grants etc . Marape most likely pulled the same trick on PM Hon Anthony Albanese in Fiji during Pacific Islands Forum Meeting as he left in haste during the PNG's election after he was first to win. No surprise there. As longest serving Finance Minister in PNG's history and now Prime Minister who was declared 1st to win in "PNG's Failed & Rigged Election" weeks and months ahead of majority of candidates in PNG Marape is directly responsible for PNG's unprecedented & unnecessary $21 billion Debt. Many don't understand that $21 billion dollars is MASSIVE, UNSUSTAINABLE & VERY DESTRUCTIVE AMOUNT OF DEBT for a poor PNG. Infact PNG is rich but made poor by reckless and unpatriotic career politicians. Without Australia PNG would precede Sri Lanka into economic collapse by a couple of years. James Marape and former PM Peter Oneil are the most destructive Prime Ministers in PNG's history. Not to mention every detail of our achievement, Marape has done great things that are too good to be true. After thrilling his people with tremendous life-supportive measures, Marape enacted dozens of policies at the last parliament session to mend-up the existing constitutional loopholes. Under the deficit budget financing strategy (DBFS) incorporated by Marape, PNG’s GDP grew from K78.6 billion in 2019 to K109 billion in the contemporary period. The previous government had taken seven years to accumulate K35 billion while Marape took only 3 years to grasp K30 billion. In spite of the Covid-19 catastrophe, Marape’s administration was the first to roll-out the K280 million (0.3 percent of GDP) SME policy, alongside the usual HELP LOAN Program (K65.1 million) that basically increased our human capital. Marape nationalized the Porgera mine and signed a contract to set up a gold mint. PNG shall finally have its own downstream-processing industry for gold. Not only did he concentrate on converting raw minerals, he increased our shares in every extractive-industry. PNG’s foreign policy gazetted by Marape as ‘friends to all and enemies to none’ has trickled unabated developments via project grants, concessional loans and technical assistance. The policy is aimed to provide a conducive environment that will harbour outside influence so that we may benefit from the spin-offs. And it is evident where roads are mingling like meandering rivers while skyscrapers sprouted like bamboo shoots. As commonly understood, dressing depicts a persons’ worth. It reveals one’s character, status and even identity. But it is inappropriate to PNG where females are deluged by social-media, which reflects on their daily conducts.
Many people live with a television-set at home. They similarly use smartphones, laptops and palmtops among others to access the internet and of course they understand how seductive a female is represented. Although the male-gaze theory is illustrated to degrade, disregard and dehumanise the females, money has enabled them to accept the distorted role of portraying their inferiority. The month of July is not just an ordinary month. It is a special period where it bursts-open the windows of opportunity to every political-line, who will then select a shepherd that will safeguard their welfare as constituted.
Today is the day to deliver our birth-right to a leader, hoping that honesty, transparency and accountability prevails and that our wealth is sustainably nourished and fairly distributed. But before mastering that golden choice after waiting for the past five years, buy some time to evaluate a reality check. Have you fully enjoyed all the rights as enshrined in the organic law and the universal declaration of human rights? ALL those implicated in the K3 billion Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) loan deal will be prosecuted and sent to jail, says Prime Minister James Marape. Marape called it the “biggest government corruption” deal under the Peter O’Neill-led government. “After the formation of the (new) government, we will prosecute those who misused money or played a part in the loan (deal),” he said. Marape said the inquiry into the loan deal was completed in April just when the country was about to start the General Election 2022 process. “So the Government had to put their prosecution on hold until after the election,” he said. |
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