Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

How our readers graphed the O'Neill-Somare crisis

THIS IS HOW THE  PNG ATTITUDE reader counter tracked the tupela wantaim political crisis of the past week.  The mechanism graphs each day's page views by blog readers.

This extract shpws the period from 20 November until last Monday.

As you can see, our readership was happily tooling along at about 1,000 a day - it's normal level - until last Wednesday when, with the crisis gathering steam it shot up to the 2,000 mark.

By Friday - the height of the O'Neill-Somare crisis and with our live blog registering events as they occur - page views leapt to a peak of around 4,000.

Then we had interest gradually fading, but it does seem we've added a hundred or so regular new readers.  Welcome!

But back to the graph - which shows a perfect representation of perhaps the greatest political crisis in Papua New Guinea' short history as a nation.  Interesting, eh?

Seasonal worker program is made permanent

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED that the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme in which Papua New Guinea participates will be made permanent following the pilot’s expiry in June 2012.

The $21.7 million program will begin on 1 July 2012 and will build on the success of the pilot.

“Australian employers in the horticulture sector unable to source enough local Australian workers will now be able to access a reliable, returning seasonal workforce,” Australian Employment Minister Bill Shorten said.

“This valuable program contributes to economic development in participating countries, while offering Australian employers seasonal staffing help when needed.

“Employers will now have certainty at harvest time and seasonal workers will be able to improve their skills and have a level of financial security.”

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the decision to fund a permanent program provides a clear indication of Australia’s commitment to development and engagement with the Pacific region and East Timor. 

“This program will provide valuable economic opportunities for workers from the Pacific region and East Timor and will make a real difference for them and their communities,” said Mr Rudd.

The Australian government will also carry out a small-scale, three-year trial with accommodation providers in the tourism industry. Cotton and cane growers as well as fishing operators will also be included in the trial.

PNG has sent 41 workers to Australia under the pilot scheme with new recruitment expected in early 2012.  The workers have developed a reputation for being very hard working and have been excellent ambassadors for their country.

Source: Australian High Commission

Growing opposition to experimental seabed mining

THE CAMPAIGN BY PACIFIC CIVIL SOCIETY against experimental seabed mining in the Pacific has been boosted by growing international support.

A public petition launched on 1 December has received signatures from as far as Nigeria and Guyana, as well as from diverse groups including trade unions in Canada, indigenous groups in Asia, Hawaii and the Pacific, churches in Australia and the Pacific and feminists from across the world.

Dave Bleakney a National Representative of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers which has around 54,000 members has signed in support of the campaign.

“The oceans are not a playground for corporate interests,” he said. “Corporations have already proven they are unable to be custodians of a sustainable world that will benefit future generations.

“The seas should in the hands of those that know how to co-exist with it in a good way, not a bunch of fly by night shysters looking to destroy the Pacific’s ocean for a profit.”

Pacific islanders have a long history of fighting against activities that harm the Pacific Ocean. The region has been instrumental in ending nuclear testing in French Polynesia, banning driftnet fishing, and stopping dumping of toxic waste into the oceans under the London Dumping Convention.

Experimental seabed mining represents a new and untested trend in ocean exploitation which the region and the global community must unite to resist.

The launch of the public petition coincided also with new scientific evidence about the serious environmental and social impacts of experimental seabed mining.

The Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights in Papua New Guinea and Mining Watch Canada and have released a new report called Out of Our Depth. It details serious environmental and social impacts expected as a result of unprecedented mining of the ocean floor in PNG.

Helen Rosenbaum, author of the report, says, “Nautilus has prepared a deeply flawed Environmental Impact Statement. For example, the company has insufficiently tested the toxicity of its process on vent species, and has not sufficiently considered toxic effects on organisms in the marine food chain.”

Catherine Coumans of Mining Watch Canada, an editor of the report, notes, “Once again a Canadian company is set to inflict unusual environmental and social harm in PNG in a way that would not be permitted in Canada.

“Canadian mining company Placer Dome dumped mine waste into the sea for many years and Barrick Gold is currently using a major river system as a mine waste dump. It is tragic that Canadian mining companies are profiting from weak governance in Papua New Guinea.”

Source: PNG Mine Watch

Great myths of PNG: witch hunts are on the rise

From time to time PNG Attitude publishes without comment articles – such as this one by CHRISTIANE OELRICH – that appear in the overseas press.  Many rely more on fiction than fact and it’s probably time PNG’s diplomats began to take more action to monitor the mythology and set the record to rights…

AFTER THEY HAD STRUNG HER UP on a tree to die, her only hope was faith in God. 'I prayed a lot,' says Lisbeth Bulheg, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

The horror of that day, Easter Sunday 2011, remains etched in a face scarred by the deep notches carved out by her nephew. Her husband's family had accused her of witchcraft. And in Papua New Guinea, an impoverished South Pacific island nation north of Australia, witches are tortured and killed.

'Three suspected sorcerers are dead after being held hostage and tortured,' the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reported in October. Similar incidents occur every couple of days, and police say they are increasing.

Human rights groups estimate that several dozen alleged witches or sorcerers are murdered in PNG each year. Police are powerless, and the church is halfheartedly fighting a hopeless battle against the crimes.

The Post-Courier recently quoted Chief Superintendent Teddy Tei, provincial police commander of the Southern Highlands, as saying that investigations into sorcery-related crimes were very difficult because police lacked physical evidence to convict someone for practising sorcery.

'If you feel that you are possessed by evil spirits, then you better go to church so that the living God Almighty will cleanse you and purify you,' Tei remarked.

'Of course sorcery exists,' the head of a Lutheran church board says near Goroka. Even pastors accuse each other of sorcery.

The PNG Sorcery Act of 1971 distinguishes between 'evil sorcery,' which is punishable by up to two years in jail, and 'innocent sorcery,' which is allowed. In the words of Paul Gamen, a Sepic [sic] River tour guide, the former 'kills' while the latter 'heals.'

People go to practitioners of black magic when they have a bone to pick with someone, and to practitioners of white magic when they want to free themselves from a curse, are unhappy in love or ill.

In the village of Lirako in the Tari area of the Southern Highlands, a woman named Amy demonstrated 'good' sorcery. 'This is how you keep your husband in line,' she said with a grin.

She rolled some tree bark, powder, paste and a hair from her spouse into a leaf, then suddenly began hacking at it with a knife. 'I'm cutting into his brain, his belly, his arms so that he'll follow me forever like a lap dog,' explained Amy, who said the mixture would be smeared on the door frames and was sure to work.

In a bamboo hut in the village of Tokua, near Mount Hagen, the 'kurmunw' - which in the local language means 'the man who conjures spirits' - displayed his craft. He was sitting in front of a pot filled with 'holy' stones.

'Each one represents a different spirit,' the interpreter whispered. The kurmunw began to chant, and moved his hands over the pot. 'Reveal yourselves!' the kurmunw cried. 'Which spirit is responsible for our brother's illness?' He touched a stone. 'What! You want a pig as a sacrificial offering again? You come too often!'

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PNG’s trial of twos ends in a very Melanesian way

BY KEITH JACKSON

WHEN, EARLY LAST SATURDAY MORNING Michael Somare and his cabal attempted - in what was a foolish and desperate act - to engage the Army in their dispute with the O’Neill government, and failed, the game was as good as over.

Similarly it was over when the Police made it clear they remained loyal to their Commissioner and to Peter O’Neill.

Likewise it was over when the people did not rise in the streets and villages and settlements.

And when the public servants yawned and said ‘let’s go on holidays’.

And it was certainly well and truly over yesterday when the Governor-General backflipped and decided that, after all, he was an O’Neill man.

At no time during this dispute, which should have been resolved in and by parliament, did Sir Michael appear in the people’s house.  The Grand Chief squibbed it.

His leaving of politics does great shame to his soubriquet of “Father of the Nation”.  This was no way for an elder statesman to behave.

Even as late as yesterday afternoon, Sir Michael was clinging to the idea that, somehow, his cause was not lost.  But it was truly lost, with barely a trace and never to be found.

This unusual constitutional and political crisis has now resolved itself (although, one may suppose, there will be repercussions to come) in a distinctly Melanesian way.

There was little full frontal confrontation (Peter O’Neill's unsuccessful attempt to reach the Governor-General being an exception, as he and fellow ministers jostled their way through police ranks). 

Instead there was a soft overlay of Melanesian mellowness and even indifference placed over the contest of wills.  This favoured the status quo - the government of Peter O'Neill, generally acknowledged to be doing a competent enough job.

The Somare forces' increasingly agitated attempts to light the blue touch paper of public and institutional revolt against the O’Neill government proved hapless – abjectly so as, at best, only a couple of dozen police joined Sir Michael and, temporarily, a Governor-General who expressed confusion before making a bad call.

So the crisis, the trial of twos, has ended peacefully, and we must all thank our personal gods for that.

If this was an example of the Melanesian way, and I think it may have been, I like it.

The main social casualty was the move to establish dedicated seats for women in parliament.  Hopefully this is only a temporary setback.

Photo: Belden Namah, Peter O'Neill and Sir Michael Ogio share a quiet celebratory champagne at Government House [Ilya Gridneff / Fairfax]

Catholic teachers in PNG’s Western province

WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE of Daru-Kiunga, which covers the entire Western Province, are by no means easy.

After travelling along the Fly River by boat, teachers frequently have to walk long distances on foot through difficult terrain in order to reach their schools.

Education and spiritual formation represent a priority for the pastoral work of the diocese. This is expressed in a special pastoral plan, which in 2011 bore the motto "Free to Walk Together". For 2012 the slogan chosen is "Solidarity".

The diocese also attaches great importance to the continuing formation of its teaching staff, for as Sister Marilyn Akonoh of the diocesan education office writes in a letter to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, "The pastoral formation of the teachers is reflected in the progress of the pupils."

Sister Marilyn and her successor, Sister Imelda Ruasoi, organise regular retreat days for over 150 Catholic teachers. They include courses that aim to help the participants to understand their professional work as a form of service.

"They can find an example for their own work in the life of Jesus, who was Teacher, Leader and humble Servant at the same time", says Sister Marilyn. ACN is supporting their initiative with a contribution of over $15,000.

Photo: Sister Imelda (Education Office), Sister Evelyn (pastoral assistant at St Gerard's Parish) and Sister Marylin Akonoh (Education Office).

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

Phillip Harold Lewis: New Ireland anthropologist

AS A CURATOR IN THE ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT at the Field Museum for four decades, Phillip Harold Lewis, who has died aged 89, made several trips to the village of Lesu in New Ireland.

There he did extensive fieldwork in the study of Melanesian culture and art and collected hundreds of items — including tribal masks, woven baskets and musical instruments — many of which are on exhibit at the museum.

"Phil embodied the fieldwork ethic, embedding himself in another culture to fully study and understand it," said Patrick Ryan Williams, chairman of the anthropology department at the museum. "His exhibits were impressive and continue to serve as a legacy of his life's work."

Mr. Lewis was the longest serving curator at the Field Museum and, during his 40-year tenure, oversaw the installation of Pacific Hall, a permanent exhibit on Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian cultures.

"He was our only curator of primitive art from the Pacific Rim back then," Williams said.

In the early 1950s, Mr Lewis set off on his first research expedition from the US to New Ireland.  "They kept stopping to refuel," said his daughter Betty Lewis. "It was an extremely arduous journey."

Once there, Mr. Lewis was assigned simple living quarters with no running water or electricity, his daughter said.  "The outhouse had spiders the size of his hand and a fruit bat kept stealing his bananas," she said.

Mr Lewis came to love the Melanesian people and their culture, making two more trips to New Ireland in the 1970s and '80s. "It was a beautiful place with people who lived a very peaceful existence," his daughter said.

Following his military discharge in 1945, Mr. Lewis attended the University of Chicago, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees, and later a doctorate in anthropology. It was there he met his wife of 54 years, Sally Rappaport, a fellow anthropology student. She died in 2003.

Source: Joan Giangrasse Kates, Chicago Tribune

New Pacific media research website launched

PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW has launched a new website archiving regional media research dating back almost two decades.

It is a digitally enhanced site taking over from the earlier site established by AUT University five years ago and was designed by Oceania publisher Tony Murrow and Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie, who is also the editor.

“The journal, the only journalism-based research publication in New Zealand and the Pacific, has come a long way since it was founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994,” said Dr Robie.

“It was very under-resourced when it was first established but it created a debate on media issues then not being aired.”

The journal was later published by the University of the South Pacific before finding a permanent home in New Zealand and being relaunched at AUT in 2003.

Pacific Journalism Review Online http://www.pjreview.info/

Source: Pacific Media Watch Press Release

Bill to create women’s parliamentary seats falls short

THE BILL TO CREATE 22 RESERVED SEATS for women in Papua New Guinea’s parliament has fallen short of the number of votes required to pass it.

Up for debate this morning in Waigani, amid the political impasse in which two factions are claiming to be government, the bill was rescinded and scheduled for debate at a later date.

A total of 73 votes are required for the bill to become law, but less than 70 of the 109 MPs attended today’s sitting.

The driving force behind the bill, Dame Carol Kidu, says she was the only member of the faction supporting Sir Michael Somare as prime minister to turn up to parliament.

“People from the Somare faction have not come,” she said. “I did discuss it with them but there are still some basic fundamental legal issues on this whole impasse that they will not budge on.”

Meanwhile, the ABC's Liam Fox tweets that governor-general Michael Ogio has been reinstated by parliament after last week's imbroglio.

Source: Radio New Zealand International / ABC

'We acted in spirit of constitution' says minister

BY CHARLES ABEL MP

WITHOUT PRESUMING TO QUESTION the wisdom of our Supreme Court, I believe that we (the Oneil-Namah government) have always followed the spirit and intent of the Constitution.

Remember the circumstances at the time [leading up to 2 August]: the extended absence of the then prime minister [Sir Michael Somare] and the common knowledge that he was undergoing three heart operations. For a 74 year old man with diabetes, let alone a younger man, this represents a serious affliction.

We also had evidence before us of serious abuse of public funds and an Acting PM who refused to act despite constant urging by some of us (I was Minister Assisting the PM at the time).

Under the Constitution, the Cabinet is meant to initiate the process of reporting the condition of the PM to Parliament.

Cabinet was intentionally delaying this process knowing it would create a vacancy because the PM as we all suspected was physically incapable of performing his duties at the time and into the foreseeable future.

The intent of the Constitution is clear in that, when the head of Executive Government is incapacitated, Parliament should address the matter and elect a new PM.

The wording, though, prescribes a process which is imperfect in that it vests responsibility in the Executive Government for a critical aspect of this process where, in circumstances such as the above, it may not act impartially.

So you see why I believe we have followed the spirit and intent of the Constitution, if not the letter.

The Supreme Court decision also made us react in the manner we did because we feel it is crashing into the domain of the Legislature and conducting a serious assault on the foundation of our democracy - that being the supremacy of the people's house and it being the only forum for the election of a Prime Minister.

Let me add to the point about the condition of the Grand Chief [Somare]. It is very fragile and we believe any independent medical assessment would reveal that he requires a long period of convalescence.

The conditions under which we took our parliamentary actions have not changed. The former PM is not in a condition to manage the rigours of running our country in a competent fashion.

It is in fact highly irresponsible for those who are pushing his case to place the father of our nation at such risk. The Grand Chief [Somare] must bear primary responsibility, though, for not implementing a succession plan for which we pleaded in the National Alliance caucus. He has not placed the well-being of our nation first.

The prolonged situation where an acting PM was in charge was certainly not adequate.

The competitive and democratic process of selecting a mandated leader as envisaged by our Constitution has produced Hon Peter Oneil and he has vindicated that true and correct process by immediately providing the leadership the country was lacking.

Hon Charles Abel is Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry

Farewell the Chief to save PNG from chaos

BY HAMISH McDONALD

MICHAEL SOMARE IS NOT ROBERT MUGABE, though he's been around as long. He doesn't send North Korean-trained battalions to attack political rivals, or sequester the best foreign-owned plantations to parcel out to cronies. He submits to votes of no-confidence in Parliament, and goes to elections every five years, inviting in journalists like me to watch.

Nor is Papua New Guinea a Zimbabwe. Its economy is robust, with growth heading up towards double digits. It has almost a year's import bills in foreign reserves. It's been stable enough for ExxonMobil and its partners to put $US15.7 billion into a liquefied natural gas project coming on stream in 2014. So it's not a failed state.

Yet after a political career stretching longer than the 36 years since Papua New Guinea became independent, neither Somare nor the state connect much with the country's nearly 7 million people. He and his political coterie are barriers between them and the state's wealth. For this reason, it would be best if this week's crisis ends with his retirement.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/farewell-the-chief-to-save-png-from-chaos-20111216-1oyjf.html#ixzz1gurN7tWJ

Hamish McDonald is Asia-Pacific Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald

Peacewomen who took on the warriors, and won

BY JO CHANDLER

''YOU KNOW THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE BILUM,'' the crusty old kiap - a patrol officer, one of the legion who never made it back to Australia after independence in 1975 - explained to this wide-eyed ''white meri'' on her first foray into Papua New Guinea.

''If you are presented with a spear, the expectation is clear - you should bring back something from the hunt.'' A bilum is used to carry garden vegetables and fruits from the forest. ''It must also come back, bearing gifts.'' A string bag with strings attached.

In PNG the cargo ferried in bilums along the nation's fractured roads sustains families. While bilums are carried by men and women alike, they are powerfully symbolic of the burdens of women in a nation where the state provides them with little or nothing.

Indeed, the crisis teams installed by Medecins Sans Frontieres to help women brutalised by violence in the highlands hot spots of Tari and Lae use a ''bilum scale'' to measure their patients' distress - at one extreme a grim-faced, wretched woman is bent double under her heavy load; at the other end her bag swings lightly from her shoulder as she stands up straight and smiling.

My most prized bilum is a riotous rainbow of yellow, green, red and orange. It was given to me by Mary Kini and Agnes Sil, ''peacewomen'' activists from the highlands village of Kup.

Together with their friend Angela Apa, they brought about a social revolution in their community, where 18,000 people had endured 30 bloody years of tribal war. Teachers and health workers fled, buildings burnt, girls could not collect water without risk of rape, families went hungry because women could not work in their gardens for fear of attack, mothers buried broken sons.

Then Agnes, Mary and Angela began to meet secretly, and at great risk. ''Women were women, just women - for the kitchen and the house, to look after the animals.

They were not allowed to talk in public,'' Agnes explained. Nonetheless, they colluded behind racks of second-hand clothes in the market stalls. They began an underground movement to end the violence.

''What was the fighting about?'' I asked. Power. Prestige. Pigs. Compensation. The settling of old scores. Their men had fought about such things forever - with bows and arrows and then, devastatingly, with guns. Communities were held hostage by paradigms of grief and violence. ''Enough was enough,'' Agnes declared.

They rallied hundreds of women into a march - they wailed and sang behind banners declaring ''No more tribal fights'' and ''Tears and love''. They told the stunned men to shut up and listen.

They gave harrowing testimony to the pain of raising children only to have them slaughtered. ''Our houses are burnt down, and the kids are with no food - we have had enough.''

When the Kup women finished speaking, one of the chief men stood up and declared himself ashamed. Agnes says: ''He said, 'From now on, I am finished with tribal fights. From right now, I am wearing a skirt. I no more wear trousers that say I am a man - I want to become a woman','' He gave the women precious gifts: power and authority. The women used them to broker peace on the battlefields, planting themselves between the warriors.

They brought back the teachers, police, nurses. Aid agencies came in to support them. Programs evolved - law and justice, youth mentoring, agriculture, maternal and infant health, water and sanitation.

After years of progress, the fairytale in recent times has ruptured and endured setbacks from renewed skirmishes. Nonetheless, momentum is sustained by the knowledge that dramatic change can be achieved.

Fully fledged guest worker scheme in 2012

AAP – AUSTRALIAN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS will be able to employ seasonal workers from Papua New Guinea, the Pacific and East Timor from the middle of 2012.

But they will have to show they can't find local workers at harvest time before accessing a $21.7 million program announced by the Federal Government yesterday following a successful pilot scheme.

Cotton and cane growers as well as fishing operators will be included and the government will also conduct a small-scale, three-year trial with the tourism industry.

The government says growers in the horticultural sector will be able to access a reliable, returning seasonal workforce from 1 July.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson described the trial as a "win-win" outcome for Australian tourism operators and regional workers who would be able to improve their skills through education and training.

There are about 36,000 vacancies in the tourism industry, as the sector faces severe labour shortages brought about by a booming resources sector competing for workers.

Seasonal workers taking part in the permanent program will be employed in accordance with Australian work standards. Employers will contribute to travel costs.

Government is now in control says Peter O’Neill

AT A MEDIA CONFERENCE in Port Moresby this afternoon, prime minister Peter O’Neill declared Papua New Guinea’s week-long political crisis over and said his government is getting down to business

Answering press questions at Morauta House, the home of government offices in Port Moresby, Mr O'Neill said "the government is now in control.”

"There is a clear direction now that this building will be in lockdown and only accessible to … myself and the public servants and ministers who have offices."

"This position (the prime ministership) is not for one family or one person, that needs to be clearly understood," Mr O'Neill said. "This position belongs to the people of Papua New Guinea."

He said it will be in parliament tomorrow to pass the budget and bills relating to reserved seats for women and the sovereign wealth fund.

However Mr O'Neill said the Somare camp has to come to parliament if the women's bill is to pass, as it needs the support of 83 MPs and his coalition has 75 of the 109 members.

Sources: [1] Eoin Blackwell / AAP.  [2] Liam Fox / ABC / Twitter

Get into parliament Sir Michael & test the numbers

BY KEITH JACKSON

AS POPULAR SUPPORT for Peter O'Neill grows, and as the loyalty of the 74 MPs backing him remains firm, Sir Michael Somare clings to the evaporating idea that he can somehow govern Papua New Guinea again.

But he resolutely refuses to test his support on the floor of parliament – where it would be demonstrated his claims to leadership are hollow – and leaves the country in a state of suspended animation.

Sir Michael is relying on last Monday's 3-2 Supreme Court ruling that reinstated him as prime minister adjudging that Mr O'Neill's August ascension was unconstitutional.

Let’s accept that without demur – but Sir Michael’s first obligation upon receiving that judgement six days ago was to take himself to parliament and begin governing.

Of course he did not, because he realised there would be an immediate move by the legislators – a quite proper and democratic move – to show in a vote that he did not command the confidence of parliament.

And in PNG, as in Australia, it is parliament that appoints (and disappoints!) prime ministers.

Instead of confronting the nation’s will, Sir Michael has been seeking any artifice whereby he might regain power – including the dramatic and bloody-minded step of seeking a military intervention, thankfully not taken seriously by the armed forces.

Mr O’Neill has now asked the Supreme Court to revisit its ruling and is applying for a restraining order to prevent Sir Michael performing government duties.

As Fairfax journalist Ilya Gridneff reports, “Power has all but slipped from Sir Michael, who failed in a desperate early morning bid on Friday to recruit the Defence Force after his choice for police commissioner, Fred Yakasa, could not provide the muscle needed to break the deadlock with Mr O'Neill. By Friday night, the week-long standoff appeared all but over.”

If Sir Michael is a true nationalist and cares about the country he has led for so many years, he will take himself to the floor of the Haus Tambaran to test where the numbers fall.

But as he bitterly tries to cling to the last vestiges of power, he refuses to return to parliament. Incapable of regaining power, incompetent in the exercise of power, he is seen clearly as a man who wished power only for what it could offer he and his cohort.

History will not judge his demise any more kindly than it will judge his long-term failure as a national leader who ultimately let down his people.

Explaining PNG’s peaceful changes of government

BY CRISPIN HULL

PAPUA NEW GUINEA is seen as a Third World hellhole riddled with violent crime and to be avoided at all costs.

So why hasn't violence erupted, nor is it likely to erupt, over the present constitutional crisis?

It is a question of identity. Political violence often goes hand-in-hand with an ethnic, religious, geographic, linguistic or racial divide (or a mix of them) in which one side is disadvantaged.

PNG has 700 languages and myriad different villages and small regions. There are so many that permanent blocs cannot form - just occasional fluid alliances around a ''Big Man''.

Of all the Third World hellholes that became independent between the war and the mid-1970s PNG has had more democratic, peaceful changes of government than any other.

You need at least a 15% identifiable minority to get the seething resentment that arises from discrimination and erupts into violence: Northern Ireland; Lebanon; Sri Lanka; or any number of African nations with two or three tribes forced into colonial borders.

So don't expect political violence in PNG other than some opportunistic criminal acts.

That said, the place is still beset by corruption, AIDS, poverty and under-development and requires Australian help. We are lucky that a stream of boat people has not arrived on our shores from PNG.

Source: The Canberra Times, 17 December

PNG success story should be recognised by journos

BY PAUL OATES

IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED that prior to the recent dramatic events in Port Moresby, most overseas news broadcasters would have had a hard time indicating where Port Moresby, let alone PNG, was on the map.

In fact, it often seems to be the case that, whenever there is any a news story is filed about Papua New Guinea, it has to be about the dramatic and unusual. The suggestion is that unless something bizarre is mentioned, an article on PNG won’t be picked up and run by the Australian and world media.

Some time ago, a number of former kiaps were interviewed by various radio commentators about their work in PNG. While the topic of the day was raised, inevitably there was a request to relate something bizarre and dramatic about our time in PNG.

While that was not surprising, the constant imperative to attract public attention can have the unintentional effect of further entrenching a popular view about PNG.

But if news about PNG always focuses on the bizarre and discards the success stories, what lasting impression is left in the mind of the public?

When the Moresby dust finally settles and the PNG government gets on with managing the nation, international media interest in PNG will undoubtedly cool again.

Any success story coming out of today’s PNG needs to be told and told with conviction. The triumph of democracy and of PM O’Neill’s steady hand during the crisis needs to be written about and told as an example of how PNG has come of age.

That the police and military have maintained their rightful place in society and refused to be drawn into an ever increasing political drama is worth reporting. Events could easily have gone awry.

So come on, you journos who flew in to cover the drama. Don’t let this PNG success story not be told to the rest of the world before you fly out again. There are many countries where this example should be trumpeted and loudly at that.

The chronicles of politics in Papua New Guinea

BY DAVID WALL

IT’S PROBABLY NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT to suggest it, but one wonders Evelyn Waugh would do with the present situation in Papua New Guinea if he were still alive – Black Mischief No 2.

The drama and intrigue are all there. We have knights of the realm, Sir Michael Somare, Sir Michael Ogio and Sir Salamo Injia with many honourable members of parliament, and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, or is he? Maybe Somare is.

Church leaders have called for calm and for O’Neill and Somare to form a grand coalition in a spirit of good will at Christmas. There seems to be little hope of this happening.

Evelyn Waugh’s characters in Black Mischief would perhaps have their parallels in present-day PNG – the protagonists in real life maybe have a Basil Seal advising them, and there could be sinister persons in PNG planning a coup d’etat.

I’ll leave it to the reader as to whom the senile uncle Achon might be in the events in today’s PNG.

As far as I know, no one is planning a Birth Control Parade in Port Moresby as was the case in the novel. But if Sir Michael was to suddenly die, would the United Nations step in and make PNG a Trust Territory once again as the League of Nations did by declaring Azania a Mandate of the League in Waugh’s novel?

In a more serious tone, O’Neill moving additional police into Port Moresby to take over government buildings could be seen as rather dictatorial.

The Governor General, Sir Michael Ogio, is/was the meat in the sandwich as he does not have reserve powers like the GG has in Australia.

He can’t directly remove either O’Neill or Somare. The other aspiring GG, Jeffrey Nape, is the Speaker of the House. Oh what a mess!

Please come back, Evelyn and write another novel!

Source: http://deberigny.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/the-chronicles-of-politics-in-papua-new-guinea/

Events of this week show strength of PNG democracy

BY KEITH JACKSON

BARRING A MAJOR TURN OF EVENTS the Somare era has reached its use by date and the O'Neill era has been legitimised and reborn.

Peter O'Neill says he and his cabinet have taken control of Papua New Guinea - and the evidence for this is overwhelming.   His coalition has the parliamentary numbers and the Somare forces refuse to test their strength on the floor of the house.

This is because they know they would not prevail.

The disciplined forces of Police and Army have been outstanding in their behaviour: they have remained loyal to the parliament and have shown they understand their role in society.  Full credit must go to the senior officers.

So, in a week of overwhelmingly bad news, there is some irredeemably good news.

A functioning democracy needs to understand and honour the supremacy of parliament.  Papua New Guinea has demonstrated, not for the first time, that the democratic imperative runs strong in its society.

Peter O'Neill is backed by 75 members of parliament, a better than two to one majority.  This alone is enough to remove  any uncertainty over who controls PNG.

At 3am yesterday, the Somare camp was impetuous and desperate enough to issue an order for the military to intervene.  The military had more discipline and more sense.

And this morning, deposed governor-general Sir Michael Ogio is reported to have issued orders for a military call-out. Ogio is now disgracing himself.

"There is only one government in this country," Peter O’Neill has said. "There is only one government mandated by the people through its parliament." And he is right.

On the ABC last night, Mr O’Neill put in an impressive performance of strength, candour and certainty. He may have made some errors in the months since he was elected prime minister - especially in permitting the campaigns to humiliate Somare and to try to intimidate the chief justice - but he's handled the current crisis with courage and strategic skill.

This has been a difficult week for PNG, but there are powerful elements that should give all of us comfort and every Papua New Guinean great relief:

Parliament remained supreme.

The police and army performed their proper roles.

The populace stayed calm.

The social media came into their own.

The democracy is intact.

The right guy won.

Parliament is the supreme authority in the nation

BY REGINALD RENAGI

THE SELF-INFLICTED POLITICAL CRISIS of this week has shown the world that Papua New Guinea may be just another Third World country: a 'sham democracy' after all these years of trying to be a strong budding democracy.

Recent social networking sites like Facebook show a frenzy of discussion by many Papua New Guineans, with two distinct groups of loyalists: one pro the recent decision by the Supreme Court and the other pro the action of the PNG parliament on 2 August resulting in the election of a new prime minister and a new coalition government of national unity (representing all provinces).

So far, many lawyers have given their opinions in the media. Some have been clearly biased in the way they interpreted the political situation according to their explanation of the law.

Such legal commentaries vary. It depends very much on whether you hear from a lawyer advising the Somare camp or a lawyer advising Peter O'Neill and his government. There are variations on a theme, though both sides have their legal explanations to justify why they are taking such positions.

This has been most confusing to the public in recent days. Public discussion reflects an interesting array of legal opinions and this is very healthy to see (yes there are many 'bush lawyers' in our midst).

Be that as it may, one thing must be made clear.

In a true democracy, which PNG has been trying so hard to be for some time now, the power of parliament must remain supreme.

The bottom-line is that parliament must be the highest authority in the nation. Its decision must be final and not subject to being over-ruled by any court-of-law, or by any other institution, or by any person or section of the community.

Aorta approach gives us the society we deserve

BY PAUL OATES 

AN AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR once talked about how Australians used or abused the word ‘aorta’.

Someone from the medical fraternity will be quick to point out that the aorta is the main blood vessel that carries the blood from the heart to all parts of the body, however Australians often adopt the word for a different purpose.

‘Aorta do something!’ is a comment one might hear during any eavesdropping at the public bar of your favourite watering hole.  I ought to do something.

So have we become an aorta society? Has there been a disconnection between our populace and those who might have the ability and opportunity to do something if they chose to?

And what makes a government legitimate in the eyes of those who expect it to govern on their behalf?

A thinking person might have some vague notions about how King John’s signing of Magna Carta codified limitations on autocratic powers. Perhaps others slightly more erudite may cite the words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address where he referred to “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

At the time of writing, Papua New Guinea has a bifurcated government - two prime ministers claiming legitimacy, two governors general and two police commissioners.

What makes a government legally and recognisably legitimate?

The online Cultural Dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com) provides a definition:

A government generally acknowledged as being in control of a nation and deserving formal recognition, which is symbolized by the exchange of diplomats between that government and the governments of other countries.

Yet who provides formal recognition that a government is legitimate? If the required recognition is forthcoming from other nations, does it necessarily follow that citizens of the home nation must also formally recognize their government’s legitimacy?

In Australia we are aware that every three years or so we have a choice as to who we vote for. Often campaigns and the subsequent voting is focussed more on the individual that on the policies.

W.S. Gilbert summed up what kind of candidate political parties want with his lines:

I always voted at my party’s call,
I never thought of thinking for myself at all,
I thought so little, they rewarded me,
By making me the ruler of the Queen’s Navee.

But at the end of the day, are we any clearer about what makes a government legitimate?

Well that’s where the expression ‘aorta’ comes into its own. You don’t have to be too concerned if you really haven’t taken any interest in the problem?

Aorta do something about it…

PNG can do without this pathetic attempt at humour

BY PETER KRANZ & KEITH JACKSON

BRUCE HAWKER RUNS HIS OWN ONE MAN SHOW called Campaigns and Communications, based in Sydney and specialising in political campaigns for the Australian Labor Party.

Normally a rather dour character, yesterday, he penned an unseemingly sarcastic article for the ABC's The Drum opinion site.

It was entitled: Doing it PNG style: the answer for Australian politics.

Hawker said Australia should take a lesson from PNG politics and declare two of everyone - PMs, governments, GGs, etc. (playing on the alleged competition between Gillard and Rudd).

This is grossly patronising guff, and makes light of a serious constitutional crisis that Australia is at least partly historically responsible for.

Hawker, not content with being in chest deep, makes it worse by stating, "Meanwhile the Abbott and Joyce-led oppositions can borrow from that other PNG institution - the cargo cult.

“What better way to fill the $70 billion hole in their costings than to simply build a bank over at Liberal Party HQ and wait for it to be filled with money. Hang on, they already do that – it's called the fundraising dinner.”

Bruce – this is foolish, sarcastic, ethnocentric nonsense – let alone a lame attempt at humour.

It tags you as a pathetic westerner willing to use someone else’s anxiety to make a few cheap shots.

This reinforces many PNG views of Australians as patronising colonials who only look to PNG for a joke. A view already taken by several PNG bloggers. Shame!

Somare says he remains PM; reoccupies offices

AAP IS REPORTING THAT SIR Michael Somare has once again declared he is PNG's only prime minister

And he was speaking from the same government offices Peter O'Neill claimed were under his control just hours earlier.

"We have laws in this country," Sir Michael said. "The international media have to understand this country.

"They (the O'Neill group) know it themselves. It is an illegally constituted government."

Sir Michael and his cabinet have been meeting in Marauta House since Tuesday.

This afternoon Mr O’Neill and his 70 supporters turned up at the government offices to declare they were in charge.

The police force are staying out of the conflict, and so too are the military despite a request from the Somare camp that they intervenee.

Big power play behind Somare–O’Neill conflict

BY MARTYN NAMORONG

“L’ETAT C’EST ET MOI!” exclaimed Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. The dude was saying in French, “I am the State”. The question of defining the State has bothered societies for centuries. This issue of state and sovereignty as well as the application of power becomes crucial as we try to address the current political crisis.

Five hundred years ago when Melanesian societies had already arranged themselves politically and economically, the English Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes was discussing the concepts of Statehood. For Hobbes, the State was Civitas - the Commonwealth – the People’s Representatives or the Sovereign.

Of course Hobbes and Louis XIV were kinda thinking on the same page. The Sun King believed the State was embodied in the Sovereign – the Head of State. However, the French weren’t buying this and the French Philosopher Jean Jacque Rousseau summed up their contempt for Le Roi – the King. But being French, Rousseau decided to pick on the English, instead of the French King. Rousseau wrote:

Sovereignty cannot be represented, for the same reason that it cannot be alienated... the people’s deputies are not, and could not be, its representatives; they are merely its agents; and they cannot decide anything finally...

The English people believe itself to be free; it is gravely mistaken; it is free only during the election of Members of Parliament; as soon as the Members are elected, the people is enslaved; it is nothing.

Now, since we’ve inherited the British Westminster system of Government, according to Rousseau we’re slaves of a system that Hobbes described to be an expression of sovereignty through the people’s representatives.

That is why you, the PNG-reader, cannot have much direct influence on the current political impasse as it is your representative who is to hopefully sort it out in your best interest. OK, so maybe you can protest but you’ll get killed anyway and the politicians will still have the last laugh.

Karl Marx was the first to identify that both representative and individual sovereignty weren’t as influential in society as the economic relationships of people. So, if you’re confused, basically Marx was saying money can buy you influence and a place at the top. We all know how money buys power these days and Marx was critical of those money-men who ran the system by class coercion.

Note how Byron Chan had to cop out of giving mining rights to landowners because the mining companies were opposed. Also note how The National newspaper published biased pro-Somare propaganda. And it was Marx’s good friend Friedrich Engels who summed up the power struggle of the classes. He wrote;

Because the state arose from the need to hold class antagonisms in check... it is by rule the state of the powerful, economically dominant class, which, through the medium of the State, becomes also the politically dominant class.

The two economically dominant classes in PNG are the agents of the West represented by mining and hydrocarbon exploiters on one hand, and the agents of the East represented mainly by logging and oil palm exploiters.

The struggle between the West (US) and the East (China) is played out in the current political crisis.

PNG’s Mexican stand-off enters its fifth day

BY KEITH JACKSON

THE POLITICAL DRAMA in Papua New Guinea moves into its fifth day with still no resolution in sight despite yesterday’s intercession by churches and non-government organisations.

The intransigence of both sides, the failure to seek common ground and the scaling up of the conflict by the importation of police sympathetic to the O’Neill group is particularly concerning.

This morning heavily armed police continue to guard state institutions, while random roadblocks have been set up throughout Port Moresby.

Late yesterday, Tom Kulunga, the police commissioner appointed by Mr O'Neill, said there are no immediate plans to expel Sir Michael Somare and his minority cabinet from the government buildings they occupy.

Mr Kulunga declared the police force will remain neutral. "This is a political situation, this is not a police situation," he said. "This is a situation that can be overcome. It is not on our immediate agenda (to take action against Somare).”

The word immediate is noteworthy, though, given that it is suggestive that a changed approach could be adopted at any time.

The issue of greatest concern remains the division of the police between two commanders, each appointed by the rival contenders for prime minister.

Are we ready 30 years on…..?

BY LAPIEH LANDU

AS A CHILD SO FRAGILE, frail and vulnerable, so is my country. Forcefully brought up into a foreign culture, still adapting to change and obliged to mature. Battered and bruised in the toil of animosity; indifference, segregation and racism in the midst of my own homeland. Yet I am pushed aside and told to feed on the scraps.

Oh, how my heart aches, hungry for equity I am pushed to question ones existence, one’s morality.  I question why I am the outcaste in my own land.  Three decades on, yet, independence seems so farfetched; unrealistic and an implausible dream awaiting truth. Why have I accepted what has been given to me.

Why do I still give in to the so-called ‘superior’ clique and accept the label as ‘periphery’? Are we the marginalised community – the locals in our own land? Is this trend one which will continue in the near future? Will my children always accept second best and have no courage to stand firm in the decisions that govern all?

Will they make allowances for the expatriates that work among them or feel intimidated still that whatever found knowledge they contain will never measure up to that of theirs. It is an inclination that has developed in the time of the kiaps and since then, set a depraved humdrum which exists in all areas of life.

In all aspects of humanity, we are equal in every sense; physical, mental, social, spiritual psychological, we are equal. Indeed our territories, languages, cultural traditions and pigments may defer us slightly, we still are equal.

We (the locals) are the superior faction for we own the land, we make up the majority, we set the laws – we have the power! Why then do we bow down to their knowledge, their skin, their wealth, their technology?

What are we so afraid of? Is it the fear of losing their trust and cutting ropes to their so called friendly aid? In political science, we learn that there is no such thing as a free gift. In stating that, it brings to mind the brutal reality or concept that we have to give back.

Now, with a young and aspiring country endowed with so much resource and wealth it gives light to why the ‘old dogs’ would turn their noses our way. Our country in the last twenty years has become a breeding ground for foreign investment and a loophole for Asian counterfeits at the cost of greedy and selfish policy benders who give less thought or care for the direction and welfare of the development of the people- the paramount reason why they hold their seats.

O’Neill deploys police to seize government assets

BY KEITH JACKSON

THE ABC IS REPORTING that there are signs the political deadlock in Papua New Guinea may have entered a dangerous new phase, with extra police being flown into the capital to seize government assets.

Peter O'Neill says extra police have been flown into Port Moresby from around the country to seize government assets and that they have taken control of the government printing office and will also target the finance department, the prime minister's department and government house.

A group of police loyal to Sir Michael has been guarding government house since Monday night.

The existence of two police commissioners must be sorely testing the loyalty of many members of the police force.

It could be expected that if either Mr O’Neill or Sir Michael Somare tries to deploy police in an aggressive posture that conflict may ensue.

Religious leaders to call for unity & reconciliation

SIR MICHAEL SOMARE has urged Papua New Guinea's public servants "to remain neutral" and repeated his earlier statement that the nation's police commissioner Tom Kulunga had been replaced by Somare appointee Fred Yakasa.

AAP’s Papua New Guinea correspondent Eoin Blackwell says the statement, issued at midnight, came after more than half of PNG's 109-member parliament voted to suspend governor-general Michael Ogio and replace him with Jeffrey Nape to swear in Peter O'Neill as prime minister.

The MPs also voted to appeal to the Supreme Court to review its 3-2 decision to reinstate Sir Michael.

In his statement, Sir Michael sacked treasury head Stephen Gibson and reinstated Somare appointee Gabriel Yer.

"Mr Kulunga's appointment was revoked for reasons of non-compliance to Supreme Court Orders and appointment beyond retirement age," Sir Michael said.

The police force has remained mostly neutral in the political standoff that came to a head after months of political and judicial in-fighting, after parliament voted 70 to 24 in early August to dump Sir Michael's nine-year-old government.

At 10 o’clock this morning, Papua New Guinea's religious leaders will give a news conference where they are expected to ask Mr O'Neill and Sir Michael to reach an agreement on the leadership.

Meanwhile the London Daily Telegraph is reporting that the Queen could be called in to settle what the newspaper terms "a bizarre political deadlock which has left the country with two rival prime ministers and two governors-general."

Firm & fair words from a buai seller in Lae city

BY EDU MANEEZE

IT IS RATHER SAD TO SEE the country being hijacked by politicians with vested interests for their own glory.

I am not blaming the opposition nor the government but the people of PNG who voted these people into parliament.

If they are true leaders of the people, by the people and with the people, someone has to humble himself to step aside with honour to allow the other to lead the country.

For dignity and good of country, someone has to sacrifice himself for the common interests of all and put aside personal differences in the name of unity and good governance.

Should the prime minister not go well and Peter O'Neill lose his seat, we will be expecting anarchy in PNG. 

Peter O'Neill come from Southern Highlands where the LNG Project is located and his tribesmen will do anything to sabotage the plant and cause more riots in Port Moresby.

The Sepiks, where Somare comes from, will also do the same if their chief (sukudumi) does not make it to the PM’s post.

We are heading for anarchy - and I call on the Australian Goverment to stand by to quell any uprising by the Somare and O'Neill supporters if the PNG Police and the Defence Force cannot handle the situation.

Transparency International PNG under the pump

BY PNG EXPOSED

RECENT CRITICISM OF TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL for not tackling the Australians over their laundering of the proceeds of corruption in PNG and TI's neo-colonial 'Corruption Perception Index' led to this illuminating exchange via email.

Paul Barker - in defence of TI PNG:

TI's local chapter in PNG cannot go chasing much if it cannot afford to pay its staff!

Yes of course the proceeds of various crimes in PNG end up in Australia; all the more reason for Australia to help fund the local transparency chapter to probe activities at the PNG end, and that various parties (including TI here, but especially authorities and NGO transparency organisations in Australia) probe and are pushed to probe the Australian (NZ, Singapore, Samoan etc ends!

Cheap shots at TIPNG don't really help!

David Joshua Martin in response:

Apart from its annual Walk Against Corruption, what has TI really done? TI(PNG) is  - frustratingly - a reflection of the people within the organisation -  a herd  of timid  sheep who can’t  even stand up and confront  corruption in its ugliest.

TI(PNG)  can’t to anything meaningful because that herd of pampered citizens don’t really understand the impacts of corruption in rural Papua New Guinea. How can we expect  those within TI(PNG) to have the will to speak out for the rest of us when they themselves don’t understand what it is like to live without water  and sanitation  in Kaugere or Two mile hill?

How can we expect TI(PNG) to probe into  the  theft of funds when very few of them actually know what it is like to watch a mother die of childbirth complications in Simbu and the Southern Highlands?  Papua New Guineans aren’t just statistics.

My mother and father, my brother and sister aren’t just the “80 percent of people” who don’t live in urban areas. Every year, TI(PNG) releases “wonderful” figures  of Papua New Guinea’s corruption perception rating that sees this great country of mine slip further into the quagmire of international disrepute.

Yet, when asked about corruption perception ratings, TI(PNG) has always distanced itself  from the manner in which data has been put together. Not that they are responsible, of course.

Sure, nice looking posters on billboards look good and serve a public relations purpose. But the bottom line is do Papua New Guineans pay attention to it? NO!  A template that works in another country doesn’t always work here.

The point is that  TI(PNG) will not probe  the activities of cash siphoning politicians and public servants at the PNG end or anywhere else. Where in their history do you see that?

If they even thought about it, it would have been done by now. I would say, Mr. Barker, (and other TI status quo supporters) that you’re being a bit naïve (or protective). Their record speaks for itself.

Get real, protecting them when they don’t produce doesn’t help.

Another PNG record: world’s smallest frogs

SMALLER THAN A TOEA, two newly discovered frog species are considered the smallest ever found. These pipsqueaks live in Papua New Guinea and are about 8-9 mm in length.

The two species, Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa, are not only the smallest frogs ever discovered, they are also the smallest of a group of animals called tetrapods (four-legged animals with backbones).

The name dekot derives from the word for "very small" in the local language, Daga; while verrucosa was named from the Latin for "full of warts" due to its distinctively lumpy skin.

P dekot inhabits the lower ranges, below about 1,200 metres, of the western slope of Mt Dayman in Milne Bay Province and P verrucosa lives on the southeastern slope of Mt Suckling, a region that adjoins Mt Dayman.

"Miniaturization occurs in many frog genera around the world," the Bishop Museum in Hawaii said in a statement. "New Guinea seems particularly well represented, with species in seven genera exhibiting the phenomenon."

The frogs are so small they seem to have hit the lower limit of body size for frogs and toads, so it's unlikely that researchers will find anything much smaller. The frogs are brown or red-brown in color, with camouflaging flecks of brown and blackish triangles on their sides.

Because of their tiny size, their fingers and toes are too small to allow much climbing, so they have found a niche on the forest floor, where their tiny body size allows them to hide among leaf litter and moss. The author suggests they might eat tiny arthropods, such as mites.

They are so small that females of both species can only have two eggs, limiting their ability to reproduce. They also lose moisture very quickly, restricting them to very wet tropical forests.

The call the male P verrucosa uses to attract females is said to sound like "a quick drag of a finger over a comb." It makes its calls at dusk until the sky turns dark and also before dawn.

Source: ZooKeys, 12 December

Ta Ann oil palm looking at PNG expansion

TA ANN HOLDINGS, having planted three quarters of its 45,000ha agricultural landbank in Sarawak, is looking to venture into Papua New Guinea.

"We are thinking of venturing into PNG. There is still a good margin potential as the land cost is much cheaper than in Indonesia," said group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Wong Kuo Hea.

"Although oil palm yields of pioneer investors there are showing 30 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hectare in a year, we will still need to do a feasibility study.

"We need to assess the soil fertility, potential crop diseases and rainfall pattern," he told Business Times.

"If we go ahead with this venture, it will be developed phase-by-phase, over a span of 10 to 15 years. The eventual plot size will be around 100,000ha," he added.

Source: My Palm Oil Blog

A still, cool night that is longing for a day of unity

LIVE BLOG

9:55PM WITH PAPUA NEW GUINEA standing hesitantly at a crossroads, this is the end of my live blogging journey, intermittent thought it may have been.  Thanks to all of you, and there are many (over 3,000 in these last 12 hours), who have joined me for a wild political ride not yet over. Early tomorrow I fly from here, to end in Canberra Friday lunchtime; in between I'll do what I can.  In between anything may happen.

I have been a friend of PNG, and more especially of PNGns, for a very long time. Fifty years. Never before, any more than now in this very fine country, has been required political maturity and an understanding of nation by those who govern it.

The present conflict should not be about the egos of men; it must be about the good of the people.  Seven million people - count each one - in a nation that is capable of so much and which deserves so much better from its politicians, who right now are choosing to offer so little.

This night there is a stand-off between the rule of law and the arithmetic of parliament. There is no victor from this impasse unless both sides retreat a little and consider that the interests of PNG and its people must not be failed by the  hubris and ambition of politicians.

Beyond the heated talk of payback and the overheated expectations of reward from high office, there must be deeper considerations, much deeper.

9:17PM Sorry for the long gap between posts.  Catching up with friends and catching a plane at sparrows in the morning, which we 66-year olds hate.

AAP's Eoin Blackwell writes a good ‘pull-together’ piece for AAP: “Confusion reigns in Papua New Guinea, where there are now effectively two prime ministers, two governments, two police commissioners and two governors-general. And if that doesn't get your head swimming, the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck on Wednesday afternoon would have.”

Eoin summed up:

• With the political stalemate set to enter its fourth day, neither Peter O'Neill nor Sir Michael Somare is prepared to back down and concede the other is in charge.
• MPs loyal to O'Neill who are occupying parliament have authorised an appeal against the Supreme Court decision that reinstated Somare.
• After being sworn in by governor general Sir Michael Ogio this morning, the 19 strong Somare cabinet told reporters that ministers had already met with heads of the public service.
• O'Neill's contingent of about 60 MPs voted to suspend the governor general, installing speaker Jeffery Nape as head-of-state. Nape then swore in O'Neill as prime minister.
• Somare vowed that contempt charges will be filed against Mr O'Neill and key members of his government. "They will be charged," he told reporters.
• As O'Neill's loyal MPs sat on the government benches in parliament on Wednesday, the capital was shaken by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake.
• PNG's defence force chief has dismissed rumours of a possible military coup. "The defence force neither seeks, nor would accept, any part to play in the politics of this country," Brigadier General Francis Agwi said. "The PNGDF has no political position and takes no political sides."

"We're all schizophrenic now. There's two of everything," said Institute of National Affairs executive director Paul Barker. "The country cannot stand this division. There are questions of the legality over everything. There is a feeling of restlessness. Most people like what O'Neill was promising - free education - and there is a feeling that Somare's people just looked after themselves."

Life is a journey

BY S GIGI AUPONG

I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT LIFE IS A JOURNEY. I never fully grasped the meaning of this phrase until I was returning from a journey to a place that might as well have been a world away from what I am used to.

My moment of epiphany, if I could call it that, occurred on the return leg of my journey when I met a youth of 73 years.

He was manning the coffee stall where my boarding gate was located. His was the first genuine smile I received after an hour of flight and 40 minutes of frantic search for gate E20.

This man had the energy of a youth as he flamboyantly welcomed me to his stall and asked me about my travel. My tale eventually led to his tale of a journey he made over 50 years ago that took him from South America to Amsterdam where he has raised a family.

When I told him I was from Papua New Guinea he actually knew where it was. This was a relief after days of having to explain where the country was located and why we resemble and have an African name but are not Africans per se.

He told me that in his line of work he has been fortunate to meet other Papua New Guineans before me. I noticed he had a cup of coins on the table in front of him as I was making my purchase.

He explained to me in an offhanded way, as if he was embarrassed that I had noticed that those were his tips. I dropped in some coins just to make him laugh.

After chatting for a while, he brought out his stool and asked me to take a seat in front of his stall. He told me about his life, and how he still had to work to survive. He was not happy with his boss, a young woman, who made him work two consecutive shifts.  Her rationalisation was that if she can work those hours, he can too.

He complained that she didn’t have a heart for an old man because he needed his rest. I think she mistook his zeal for life for youthful energy as I did.

During our banter a group of designer-clad youths rocked up to his stall to buy some drinks. While he was serving them, they found that they didn’t have enough to get all they wanted; he happily reached into his cup of tips and covered the difference.

I was touched by this act of selflessness.

Research uncovers horror penile modification

RESEARCH ON CIRCUMCISION as a means of prevention of HIV transmission has brought to light the number of men in Papua New Guinea undergoing unsafe penile modification, often with disastrous consequences.

Professor John McBride of James Cook University was one of a number of researchers presenting their work to the PNG government and non-governmental organisations in a recent two-day policy forum in Port Moresby.

He says most men are amenable to being circumcised, with almost 60% having had either full or partial circumcision, known in PNG as the straight cut.

Prof McBride says all the research groups were concerned about the potential adverse effects of that informal type of circumcision and other forms of penile cutting.

“One of the recommendations to come out of the policy forum was to look at how we can reduce the harm that’s associated with informal circumcision and other circumcision practices such as injecting oils and other substances into the shaft of the penis as well as inserting foreign objects under the skin of the penis,” said Prof McBride.”

Source: Radio New Zealand International

Free education in PNG will not work: union

BY CATHERINE GRAUE

THE PNG TEACHERS' UNION is calling on parents to continue paying their children's school fees next year, despite the government's promise of free education.

The PNG government has allocated K1.3 million to make school free for students from Year 7 to Year 10.

The PNG Teacher's Association is predicting that many of the more than half a million students not currently enrolled in school will head to the classroom as a result.

But the union's national secretary, Ugwalubu Mowana, told Radio Australia the government's funding will not be enough to cover the costs of providing quality education.

"I believe it is important the parents must continue some percentage of the school fee component," he said.

The union is also concerned an increase in student numbers will have adverse impacts on their learning, and has called for additional funding to ensure more teachers are trained.

The PNG government is promising to spend $565 million to implement an education policy.

Source: Australia Network News

MCC banned from World Bank projects

BY PAPUA NEW GUINEA MINE WATCH

THE MAJORITY OWNER OF THE controversial Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea, the Chinese Metallurgical Construction Company (MCC) Ltd, is reported to have been barred from doing work involving the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

This is because its sister companies, China First Metallurgical Construction Company and China First Metallurgical Group, have been found guilty of fraud and corruption in a World Bank investigation into the construction of a bridge in Bangladesh as part of the Dhaka Urban Transport Project.

The investigation found the bridge was so poorly constructed it was condemned before it was opened for fear it would have collapsed when people started using it – potentially killing hundreds of people.

The Ramu nickel mine has been heavily criticised for alienating land from indigenous people, poor construction, use of imported convict labour, appalling health and safety standards, the planned dumping of toxic mine waste into the sea and the highly favourable tax holidays that it secured from the heavily pro-Chinese government of Michael Somare.

MCC was introduced into PNG by Australian based mining company company Highlands Pacific, a junior partner in the Ramu mine.

After 24 hours, political situation remains confused

BY KEITH JACKSON

6:30PM Well, after 24 hours of confusion we have, er, continuing confusion. I'll sign off this live blog here but, if there are other significant events this evening, we'll report on them.  Meanwhile it seems both political groupings in PNG have hunkered down for a long night's strategising - and good luck to both of them. Another 2,000 page views for PNG Attitude during the course of today have made this exercise even more worhwhile.  Thanks to all our readers. We'll do it again sometime.

6:15PM Liam Fox has just reported for the ABC from Port Moresby that the Governor-General's private secretary has told Peter O'Neill and his fellow politicians that Sir Michael Ogio will not talk to them.  A short time ago the group, variously estimated at 40-60 MPs, left the area of Government House.  The secretary said the Governor-General is "confused" by the Supreme Court decision and asked the politicians to "sort it out amongst themselves".

6:05PM The Governor-General is reported by the ABC to have urged the opposing contenders for PNG prime minister to 'sort out the issue amongst themselves'. It seems Sir Michael Ogio is seeking a political solution, which presumably will be resolved on the floor of parliament.

5:17PM Journalist Ilya Gridneff (now with the Sun-Herald) emails that he's on his way to Port Moresby "to sort things out".  Ilya spent two years in PNG with AAP until earlier in 2011.  The big media guns are being rolled into position!

5:10PM A PNG Attitude reader reports (and has been very assertive in offline comments to me) that Governor-General Michael Ogio is meeting with Peter O'Neill and is scheduled to meet with Sir Michael Somare tomorrow.  If this information is correct it could be that he is trying to assure himself whether a government can be formed.  If not, he may dissolve parliament and call a general election [see Harry Topham's comment].

PNG political turmoil: O'Neill tries to cling to power

BY KEITH JACKSON

PETER O'NEILL WAS TRYING TO RESCUE his prime ministership this morning even as Sir Michael Somare prepared to be sworn into the top job.  Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd has expressed 'deep concern' about the situation in PNG.

I am updating this live blog as new information comes to hand.  PNG Attitude has had over 2,000 page views in the last 24 hours, a record. We welcome reports and remarks from readers in the Comments section below….

3:20PM We're continuing this live blog in another section [above] - getting a bit long.

3:07PM  Jo Chandler, who’s a senior writer at The Age emails: “You had any intelligence (?) since midday? Hopefully Ilya [Gridneff] is en route back to PNG for Fairfax tonight. Meantime I am trying to cover Moresby from Melbourne. Been watching your blog. Very useful, but hanging out for you to get back from lunch with the wife!”

OK, PNG Attitude people, send that information in for Jo and for me. Lunch is over!

12:34PM ABC’s The World Today - Eleanor Hall: Now to Port Moresby, where the leadership crisis is escalating with the speaker of the house of parliament refusing to comply with a court order to reinstate Sir Michael Somare as prime minister.

The stand-off between Papua New Guinea's parliament and the Supreme Court has produced a leadership vacuum with both Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill, who was voted in by MPs to replace him in August, claiming to be the legitimate leaders of the country.

Sir Michael's family had indicated he was going to retire while he was out of the country receiving medical treatment, but once the MPs voted Mr O'Neill into the prime ministership, Sir Michael's supporters launched a legal challenge.

PNG correspondent Liam Fox is at the parliament now and joins us.
Liam, how bold a move was it for the speaker ignore the Supreme Court's ruling this morning that Sir Michael be reinstated?

LIAM FOX: It was very bold - he's basically ignored the highest courts in the land, the full bench of the highest courts in the land this morning in parliament. It was only Mr O'Neill and his supporters in the chamber and they were occupying the government side of the house.

The speaker came in and made a brief statement. He effectively said that because of retrospective legislation that was passed yesterday, Sir Michael is not the prime minister and in fact he's not even an MP.

He said that Sir Michael is now an ordinary person and he said the Peter O'Neill is the legitimate prime minister of this country and leads the legitimate government.

ELEANOR HALL: What is the reaction amongst PNG voters there?

LIAM FOX: I was just conducting some vox pops outside parliament house and from all the people that we spoke to, we only found one person who supported the Supreme Court's decision, and that was because the Supreme Court has upheld the constitution, not because that person was any supporter of Sir Michael.

Everyone else was disappointed by the decision, they felt that Peter O'Neill is the better prime minister, that the Somare government was tired and ineffective. So it appears that the majority of people are disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision and wants to see Peter O'Neill remain as prime minister.

ELEANOR HALL: And yet there is a conflict between the Supreme Court and the parliament. How is this deadlock likely to be broken?

LIAM FOX: Well that's unclear at this stage. Everyone's waiting to see which way the governor-general will go. Last night, after the Supreme Court's dramatic decision, supporters, police officers who supported Sir Michael Somare, blocked off the entrance to government house and prevented Peter O'Neill for about an hour from getting through the blockade.

He was able to get through eventually, but the governor-general refused to see him. We've been told by Sir Michael's supporters that he'll be making a trip to government house sometime today - that hasn't happened yet.

So really we're waiting for the governor-general's position. Who will he support - O'Neill or Somare.

ELEANOR HALL: Is there any indication on which way he will go?

LIAM FOX: No there's no indication as of yet. As I said he refused to speak to Peter O'Neill last night. Perhaps there is some indication in the fact that the governor-general Sir Michael Ogio was appointed by Sir Michael Somare earlier this year and perhaps, perhaps he feels some allegiances to Sir Michael but that's not clear at this stage.

ELEANOR HALL: Liam all this was in part brought on by Sir Michael's family suggesting that the former prime minister or perhaps the current prime minister was going to retire. What was behind that move?

LIAM FOX: That was amid Sir Michael's several month long absence overseas where he underwent three heart operations in a hospital in Singapore for quite some months. There was very little coming out about his condition and late in the piece his son, Arthur Somare, gave the nation an update on his condition.

He said he was still in intensive care, it was unclear when he was coming out, gave details of the procedures he underwent and then a week later he said the family had decided that Sir Michael should retire once he recovers from his medical treatment.

Now that added to the uncertainty in PNG about whether he was going to stay as PM or not and contributed to the in-fighting within his government which eventually saw a mass defection of government MPs to the opposition back in August, which led to Sir Michael being removed from the office of prime minister.

Complexities of Melanesian measurement

BY PETER KRANZ

WESTERNERS SEEM TO THINK that our units of measurement (base 10 counting, the 24 hour clock etc) are some sort of immutable universal truths.  But shows gross ignorance of other cultures.

Not all languages have numeric systems. Specifically, there is not much need for numeric systems among hunter-gatherers who do not engage in commerce.

Many languages around the world have no numerals above two to four—or at least they did not before contact with colonisers—and speakers of these languages may have no tradition of using the numerals for counting.

Indeed, several languages from the Amazon have no numerals other than ‘one’.

Some Australian languages, such as Warlpiri, do not have words for quantities above two, as did many Khoisan languages at the time of European contact. Such languages do not have a word class of ‘numeral’.

Some Austronesian and Melanesian ethnic groups, including the Māori and some Papua New Guineans, count with the base number four.

But perhaps one of the most amazing counting systems was used by the Oksapmin in Papua New Guinea. 

In pre-contact times (prior to 1940) the Oksapmin used a 27-body part count system. That is they had a base 27 number system. Consider that only since the invention of computers has hexadecimal notation been widely use (that is base 16) - and this only due to a quirk of the first microprocessors.

Geoffrey Saxe of the University of California, Berkeley, has made a study of the Oksapmin counting system [http://gse.berkeley.edu/faculty/gsaxe/Research.html].

"To count as Oksapmin do,” he writes, “one begins with the thumb on one hand and enumerates 27 places around the upper periphery of the body, ending on the little finger of the opposite hand.

“To indicate a particular number, one points to the appropriate body part (for example, the ear) and says the body-part name out loud. Traditionally, each number is labelled by both a word and a gesture (pointing to the body part in question).

”To continue past the 27th body part (the ‘other little finger’), continue up to the wrist, forearm, and on up and around the body. There is no distinction between the name (including word and gesture) for the 21st body part (tan-besa, meaning ‘other forearm’) and the 29th body part (also tan-besa, or ‘other forearm’).

“Thus, context is crucial for an understanding of the numerical referent for any number in the Oksapmin counting system."

Papua New Guinea continues to amaze and delight.

Ocean power inspired sculptor’s winning design

BY DON HOOK

MELBOURNE SCULPTOR JAMES PARRETT loves to surf and ride the waves. And it was to the sea that he turned when seeking inspiration for the design of the Rabaul and Montevideo Maru Memorial.

Like most Australians of his generation, James (35) knew little or nothing about the Japanese invasion of the New Guinea Islands in January 1942 or the subsequent sinking of the Japanese prison ship Montevideo Maru with the loss of more than 1,000 Australian prisoners of war and civilian internees.

It was not until James stood in Canberra among the memorials to Australians who’d fought and died in the nation’s various military campaigns that he realised the daunting challenge ahead of him.

“To those tens of thousands Australians who served in all the wars - and to those they left behind - this was indeed a sacred place.

“I felt I had to do justice to them and their memory and this special place by designing an abstract sculpture, outside the traditional memorial box, yet with a modern feel that will speak to future generations.

“Hopefully, it will not age. People will either like or dislike it but what matters most of all is when they walk around it, or stand under it, that they wonder and think about the event it commemorates.

“To me it is most important that the people who died in the tragedy are at peace and that everyone who comes to know about the event also feels at peace,” he said. 

James surfs along Victoria’s west coast beaches and it was while paddling in the calmness awaiting to be picked up by the right wave that he realised the ocean’s power.

All was calm out where he was but he could see in the distance the fury of the waves as they crashed onto the beach.

He decided then to create a memorial that symbolised the ocean; his design picks up the circular wave-like-forms while the angled base is evocative of a ship’s bow.

James only started thinking about art and the possibility of a future career while in his senior high school years at Kingswood College, Box Hill, Melbourne. 

He could not decide what he wanted to do until his teacher showed him images by two American artists and sculptors, Jasper Jones and Frank Stella, noted for their pop art and abstract expressionism.

“They spoke to me, blew me away, and started me off,” he said.

What followed was a Bachelor of Arts (Sculpture) degree from Monash University, then Honours in Sculpture from the Victorian College of Arts. 

Since then he has exhibited at galleries in Sydney and Melbourne, and has been a finalist in several of Australia’s most important sculpture exhibitions, including Sculpture by the Sea at Sydney’s Bondi.

James spent two years teaching English in Japan.  But it was in Melbourne five years ago that he met his Japanese-born wife Chiyoko.

She was studying English; he was learning Japanese.  They have a daughter Haruki and live in Coburg just north of the Melbourne CBD.

The dedication of the Rabaul & Montevideo Maru Memorial will take place at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra at 11.30am on Sunday, July 1, 2012 – the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the unmarked prison ship by an American submarine. 

The help of Melbourne journalist Bruce King is greatly appreciated -  DH

'In deep shit’: Melanesian chiefs want border action

BY AN ANONYMOUS CROCODILE PRIZE ENTRANT

SINCE 1987, A MANIFESTO ENTITLED “Indonesian Bamboo Curtain” has been kept well away from public view, presumably labelled ‘top secret’ and locked securely in safes in Jayapura and Waigani.

It remains to this day, mapping out special military and psychological offensives along the so-called buffer zone of the 141st meridian – the border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia created by Britain, Germany, Netherlands, the US and Australia around 1948.

Advocates pushing for a border summit, who met in a secluded location, recently said that the Indonesian government document emphasises that the 141st meridian shall be a “bamboo curtain” agreed under a Indonesia-PNG treaty to seal the area and to be off-limits to press and human rights organisations.

The advocates, all traditional chiefs along the border belt from Daru to Wutung, say the 1987 manifesto embraced a concerted effort to militarily and psychologically subdue West Papuans into returning to their homeland.

In an effort to thwart the manifesto, the elderly chiefs met as long ago as 1999 and discussed strategies to dismantle the concept.

Traditional chiefs from Busulmin, Wara Smol, Hufi, Karkar Yuri, Mamamura, Kamberatoro, Kwek, Wasengla, Scotchiau, Nyaukono and Wutung called for a summit to address the issue openly and forcefully to stem the tide of ‘Javanism’ into Melanesian (West) Papua.

The people of the buffer zone are ethnically related in blood, colour, environment and race so why should they be torn apart, the chiefs asked.

I was shown carefully crafted documents referring to Indonesian and PNGDF air surveillance zones; Indonesian coastal patrol vessel zones; Indonesian and PNGDF military bases; prison sites holding OPM members; Indonesian “psy ops” zones; and PNG relocation points of West Papuan refugees.

“It is very alarming that the manifesto has called for PNG’s endorsement,” a chief from Hufi said.

“This is basically another Indonesian invasion of West Papua in a more concerted and sustained manner, and we call on the government of PNG not to allow it,” said another chief.

The chiefs say that, under the assimilation package, the Indonesian government has invested in developing tangible infrastructure (such as the Trans-Irian Highway); high-impact projects; efficient communication networks; and attractive social and welfare programs.

This has resulted in pulling our citizens from the PNG side of the buffer zone to the other side “in search of a good life”.

“This is a sugar-daddy gesture,” say the chiefs. “The Trans-Irian Highway, for instance, is actually a speed-lane for the settlement of Javanese under the Transmigration Policy into the fertile deltas of the entire island of Melanie – from Samarai to Sorong.

“As far as we are concerned, the imaginary line (the 141st meridian) is meaningless.

“And we are calling on the colonialists who planted that line to return and fix the problem.”

Making AusAID smarter: a role for universities

BY JOEL NEGIN

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS and with increasing momentum, AusAID has shifted from essentially being a project-focused contract manager to an agency that works more at the policy level on sector programming.

Whereas AusAID used to fund managing contractors and NGOs to deliver discrete pieces of development activities, they now interact with multiple international agencies, with developing country governments, and with other partners on sector policy issues.

For example, there has been a reduction by half of the amount of Australian aid spent through contractors. Phrases such as sector-wide approach, harmonisation, pooled funding, and aid effectiveness are heard more often than ever before.

The Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness highlighted the importance of these changes and the substantial impact of this momentum on how AusAID operates.

As AusAID (along with a number of other development agencies) has made this change, they have run into a challenge: their human resource capacity. After years of building generalist staff who specialised in contract management and who did not have sector specific technical skill, AusAID must question whether they have found themselves without the skill set needed for the new type of work being undertaken.

The Aid Review and other stakeholders highlight the need for skills such as high-level negotiation capacity, stakeholder management, diplomacy and sector policy design.  These skills are critical to success and risk management as AusAID staff interact with government ministries, multilateral institutions and other development partners.

This is not a critique of AusAID individuals but rather an institutional shift from recruiting and training staff for one purpose and the significant change needed as the agency’s work changes.

Importantly, this static situation is not confined to AusAID — educational institutions have also been slow to provide the training for this new skill set.

Supreme Court backs Chief Justice as hearing continues

THE SUPREME COURT OF PNG has dismissed the O’Neill government's application to have the Chief Justice disqualified from hearing a challenge to the government's legitimacy.

On Friday, Mr O'Neill's lawyers applied to have Sir Salamo Injia dismissed, accusing him of being seen in public with Sir Michael's son, Arthur.

The Court should now continue to finalise its decision on the question of the legitimacy of the government’s election on 2 August.

And in a statement on the constitutional turmoil in PNG, Australia's parliamentary secretary for Pacific Affairs, Richard Marles says the country should be treated with respect despite its current difficulties.

Mr Marles said PNG is a vibrant democracy which will enable the controversy to be settled.

"I don't think there is any concern about the future of democracy in PNG," he said.

"They are obviously going through a difficult issue at the moment with their government arrangement and constitution."

Govt passes legislation to legalise Somare dumping

IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling on the legitimacy of the O’Neill government, the Papua New Guinea parliament has passed a series of amendments to legalise the prime minister’s elevation to the top job.

The surprise move came ahead of the Court’s decision on whether prime minister Peter O’Neill was constitutionally elected when MPs voted to dump Sir Michael and replace him with Mr O’Neill on 2 August.

That decision is still expected to be handed down this afternoon.

The new legislation is restrospective in its effect and also specifies the prime minister can be dismissed if absent from the nation for more than three months.

Sir Michael had been absent for five months while he was in Singapore recovering from heart surgery.

It is not clear what impact, if any, the court decision will have on the amendments.

Court ready to pronounce on Peter O’Neill

THE PNG SUPREME COURT will this afternoon hand down its decision on the legitimacy of Peter O'Neill's prime ministership. The five-man bench will sit at 2pm local time.

Supporters of former prime minister Sir Michael Somare brought the action against Mr O'Neill's 2 August election by parliamentary vote after Sir Michael was deposed.

The court’s decision has been preceded by no less than three attempt by the new government to exclude chief justice Sir Salamo Injia from the judicial process.

Information wanted: Fibro & asbestosis in PNG

BY KEITH JACKSON

THIS IS A SAD STORY that some readers may be able to assist with

Bill Bergen was a cadet education officer at the Australian School of Pacific Administration in 1962-63 who later went on to a distinguished career as a teacher in Papua New Guinea.

His daughter, Helen Bergen, writes: “Dad has terminal cancer; mesothelioma (asbestosis) in the abdomen.  It is incredibly rare and aggressive, and we’re trying to map where it could have possibly come from.

“Are you able to ask the PNG networks if there is anyone else with known cases of mesothelioma, and who can’t find any Australian link with asbestosis please?

“I know many buildings in PNG were built of fibro…as were many schools.”

If any reader may have information, or even views, on a PNG-based source for this dreadful disease, caused by asbestos fibres, add a Comment below.

You can also get in touch with Helen or Bill by emailing here.

Michael Somare says he is willing to serve again

AAP – At a press conference yesterday, on the eve of today’s critical court decision on the legitimacy of the O’Neill government, Sir Michael Somare said he is prepared to serve as prime minister of Papua New Guinea again.

"I am willing to serve as prime minister again," the 76-year-old Sir Michael told AAP. "Although I do not know if I will run for East Sepik again. There is a lot to consider."

Sir Michael said he would not comment on the Supreme Court decision that could return him to office if the five-man bench rules that Peter O'Neill was not constitutionally elected.

Yesterday the government on Sunday obtained the Governor-General Michael ogio’s assent rescinding leave granted to Sir Michael to miss parliament in May while he was in Singapore undergoing heart surgery.

The document says that as a consequence Sir Michael is no longer a sitting MP.

"I cannot believe they have done this to me, after 43 years," Sir Michael said.

At the press conference Sir Michael urged the nation to remain calm in the lead-up to the court decision.

Three heart operations have left the usually stocky but fit-looking man thinner and frail, but he remains extremely alert.

Dreams of a place

BY JEFFREY MANE FEBI

Our political leaders fight for power while the little people continue to suffer.  Our suffering seems endless but certainly our dreams have not expired and will give us the strength to walk on.  How we get to where we want to go and what kind of Papua New Guinea we want to see then is in our dreams and no one can steal it.  So don't give up!  The tireless hand (Time) continues and it is up to us to become agents for change, even if it means to suffer as we make our way slowly to that destination/PNG we would like to have.

Did the play of mighty tongues,
Harass your wretched heart once,
Twice, then more than many times;
Then your dream haunts,
While, away tireless hand chimes?

Did the play of mighty tongues,
Your dream on a journey forces,
When the storms were unkind;
Then send it on unplanned courses,
On many a different wind?

I too have a heart broken,
With a dream restless and old;
That yearns to journey to a place,
Gentle whispers, us have told
Is full of wondrous grace.

Will you join me on a journey to this
Noble place without a name;
A name you and I would give,
While we play our own game
And live and let live?

But I can't promise a smooth trip;
Our dreams, our wrath will keep,
And our hearts will find a way.
We may all the way creep,
But surely we will not stray.

Let the rhythm of our hearts,
And song of a place without name,
Deliver us strength to sweat.
Getting there is our noble aim
And this we will not regret. 

Hey, did I see a flicker in your heart,
Through holes in the wretched one?
The flicker in my heart dance,
And though there’ll be no sun,
We surely will make our advance.

A place without name we seek;
We must not be meek;
A place without name we seek;
We must no be weak?
A place without name we seek.