National affairs: When the sheeple elect sheep

MARTYN NAMORONG | The Namorong Report

FOR THE PAST 37 YEARS, the sheeple of PNG have been apathetic towards the formation of governments following the general elections. The consequence of this is that the wolves that rise to power have for too long been allowed to get away scot-free with damaging the nation.

The facade of democratic government appears during the elections and once the political opportunists get into power, they become mini-dictators.

The sheeple get a raw deal not necessarily because they vote in wolves but because they fail to exert pressure on the sheep that enter Parliament to do the right thing. The consequence of this is that the Parliamentary sheep get corralled by a few wolves into forming terrible government.

Some MPs think that once they've got their 'mandate' they can act as they wish. The fact of the matter is that many of those who get into Parliament act like sheep, following the herd around in search of greener pastures.

The manifestation of this is that PNG has always had governments with very large majorities and a minute opposition. Politicians in Papua New Guinea use primitive instincts, relating to herd behavior and finding resources for survival, instead of their intellectual capacity.

As a result, coalitions made up of misfits have ruled by mobocracy. The implications of this have been the undermining of the national interest. Enormous wealth has been squandered, and opportunities missed for the improvement of social indicators.

The sheeple want to have a say as to who is running their country and they must have a say. Politicians may be lobbying each other for pole position but the sheeple aren't lobbying politicians to form better governments.

Is it always inevitable that the elected MPs chose whom they want or do the people extert pressure for the type of PM they want.

If western democracy is about the political elite making deals amongst themselves without considering the interests of the people, then I wish to congratulate all those who still believe in the currently flawed model of development.

Comments

[David Wall]

The PNG electorate gets a fair battering from Martyn with his analogy of sheep/sheeple.

I guess, it might be good if he, like Henry V, could persuade them to “Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage (and) imitate the action of a tiger”. Or more appropriately, in a national sense, take on the ferocity of the cornered muruk.

I do fear though that this is not the Melanesian way. Given all this, I hope Martyn, you don’t lose all faith in democracy, because within its guidelines there is still plenty of scope for righteous indignation.

[Mrs Barbara Short]

What you have in PNG is not True Democracy. It is Representative Democracy.

But it is not working because the elected members forget that they are there to represent their electorate. The electorate is often oblivious to their role.

They now have to be in contact with their representative and tell them What they want!

My father rang up our local member, week after week, year after year, and we finally got Epping Boys' High School. Too late for my brother but excellent for the grandchildren.

Now is the time for the electors to get in contact with the elected Representative member and tell him/her who to join up with, who to have as Leader, and what the country wants.

I hope you are all telling them that you want an ICAC ASAP!

If you don't you only have yourselves to blame.

I'll need to contact someone to tell them I want Keravat National High School fixed up quick smart.