Political Reviews

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351 political reviews ‡ melanesia 403

Rule of Law and Human Rights in Papua, stitutional and leadership crisis in the 2012). Unpublished nongovernmental history of the country. The crisis put organization report. to test the thirty-seven-year-old consti- Majalah Selangkah.com. tution, challenged the principle of the http://majalahselangkah.com/ separation of powers among the three MediaIndonesia.com. arms of government (executive, leg- http://www.mediaindonesia.com/ islative, and judicial), and shook the foundations of the Westminster system Merdeka.com. http://www.merdeka.com/ of government adopted by Papua New Papua Pos Nabire. Papua Pos Lokal Guinea. Additionally, business houses Network. http://papuaposnabire.com/ and landowners around the Lique- Pasific Post. Daily. Jayapura. Online at fied Natural Gas (lng) project area http://www.pasificpost.com/ warned that if the impasse between the two groups claiming to be the Radar Sorong, Cenderawasih Pos Lokal Network. http://www.radarsorong.com/ legitimate government continued, it could negatively impact investor Suara Papua. http://suarapapua.com/ confidence and the economy at a time Suara Pembaruan (Voice of Renewal). when the lng project was at its peak Daily. Jakarta. Online at construction phase (Post-Courier, http://www.suarapembaruan.com/ 19 Dec 2011). Tabloid Jubi Online: An Alternative Media Fortunately, 2012 was an election in Tanah Papua. http://tabloidjubi.com/ year, which meant that Parliament was dissolved and political incumbents Tribunnews.com. http://www.tribunnews .com/ had to re-contest their seats. This somewhat ended the leadership tussle Umaginews. http://www.umaginews.com/ between the Peter O’Neill and Somare vivanews.com. http://www.vivanews.com/ factions, who were forced to renew their leadership mandate through the ballot box. This was timely because the political impasse could have devolved further into social chaos, as The year 2012 and the events in the the stalemate was gradually politiciz- latter part of 2011 leading up to the ing and dichotomizing the different infamous “political impasse” in Papua groups in the country who supported New Guinea (PNG) will go down in one faction or the other. the annals of PNG political history for There was a sense of political inse- a number of reasons. Most significant, curity and uncertainty when Somare’s it was a year that saw the end of nine family announced that he was not years of rule by the National Alli- medically fit to continue as the coun- ance Party–led government of Prime try’s leader in 2011. Somare’s absence Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael from the country for almost three Somare—cutting short what would months created a leadership vacuum have been a historic two full terms as despite his having appointed prime minister. (the member for Wabag and minister These events led to the biggest con- for foreign affairs and immigration) 404 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013) as acting prime minister. Somare’s men had to sell their policies, boost prolonged absence led the majority in their popularity, and secure the voters’ Parliament to declare a vacancy in the support to return to power after the prime minister’s seat. Rifts within the national elections. National Alliance circles were already The rhetoric about free health conspicuous due to Abal’s displace- care service was one popular elec- ment of onetime Deputy Prime Minis- tion gimmick that never material- ter . Abal had political foes ized during the twelve-month long from within his own party and also government of O’Neill and Namah. lacked the authority and respect that Nonetheless, after being elected prime was accorded to Somare. minister, O’Neill kept his word on Since Somare became prime minis- free education. The Department of ter in 2002, his style of leadership and Education was directed to facilitate many of his decision-making processes the dispensing of subsidies to schools, were perceived as dictatorial by the and when this was delayed and not Opposition. This was demonstrated in implemented in a timely fashion, the the ways that some controversial legis- National Executive Council in Sep- lation was bulldozed through Parlia- tember suspended the secretary for the ment without wider consultation and Department of Education, Dr Musawe debate—for example, the Environ- Sinebare, allegedly for failing to mental Act, which among other things effectively implement the policy. Prime prevents third-party lawsuits against Minister O’Neill issued a stern warn- resource companies (see Kantha 2011, ing that his government would not 491, 494–495), and the Maladina Bill, tolerate slackness in the public service, which proposed the removal of the particularly at the departmental head powers of the Ombudsman Commis- level (The National, 28 Sept 2012). sion (see Kantha 2010, 456-457). The There were numerous skirmishes in provision in the Environmental Act the short-lived O’Neill-Namah regime preventing third-party lawsuits was and many embarrassing reversals later repealed by the O’Neill-Namah by Prime Minister O’Neill of widely government. publicized decisions made by Deputy The announcement of Somare’s Prime Minister Namah. Namah was retirement from politics by his son and the government’s rhetorician, pre- Member for Angoram Arthur Somare dominantly seen as the one calling (Post-Courier, 30 June 2011)—seem- the shots, making the hard decisions, ingly without the knowledge of his and being easily agitated. Meanwhile, father who was in the in O’Neill was soft-spoken, inquisitive, Singapore—provided an opportune and seemed to merely wear the prime moment for the Opposition to mobi- minister’s hat without really exerting lize support and seize control of the any authority. government in mid-2011. However, On one occasion, Namah sus- the bond between new Prime Minister pended the managing director of Peter O’Neill and his deputy, Belden the Mineral Resources Development Namah, was apparently one forged Company over allegations of corrup- for political convenience. The two tion in the company. The company political reviews ‡ melanesia 405 was set up by the government with on the legality of the processes and the prime minister as the sole trustee acceptable parliamentary norms. Legal to manage landowner equity interests opinions about the legitimacy of the in the mining and petroleum sector two government factions offered by (The National, 13 Oct 2011). Namah lawyers representing the two sides was acting prime minister at that time, were even more contradictory. as O’Neill was out of the country. The inexorable O’Neill-Namah On returning from his overseas trip, faction was adamant that Parliament, O’Neill immediately rescinded the as the law-making body, was supreme decision of his deputy. These contra- and that the decisions of Parliament dictions in the public pronouncements to disqualify Somare as prime minis- proved early in the formation of the ter and to remove him as East O’Neill-Namah government that the Regional Member for missing three alliance was just a façade for their consecutive parliamentary sessions own ends, and it was clear that the were legitimate. In fact, however, relationship would not last. Somare missed only two sessions. He The overthrow of the Somare gov- was compelled to fly to ernment and the impasse leading up from his hospital in Singapore to the elections in mid-2012 sparked a and entered the chambers of the debate regarding whether the constitu- Parliament House in a wheelchair, tion or the Parliament held supremacy. determined to fulfill the constitutional The unprecedented circumvention of requirements by not missing the third laws by the O’Neill-Namah govern- session of Parliament. The Somare ment—seen in the removal of Somare faction maintained that the constitu- as a member of Parliament, the tion created the institution of Parlia- amendment to the Prime Minister and ment and thus is supreme and that the National Executive Council Act to procedures undertaken by Parliament retroactively legalize Somare’s dis- to remove him were therefore uncon- qualification, and the introduction of stitutional and extrajudicial. the Judicial Conduct Bill, which was The impasse consequently raised an ominous attempt to penalize judges doubts about the independence and who might render a verdict upholding neutrality of the PNG Supreme Court, the supremacy of the constitution, and which is mandated to defend and thus reinstating Somare—were obvi- protect the constitution. The O’Neill- ously desperate attempts to cling to Namah government was wary of the power. The constitution, however, fell outcome of the Supreme Court ruling. short of clearly defining the param- After Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia eters by which such practices could be ruled that the manner and procedures deemed constitutional or otherwise. by which Somare had been removed Lawyers and political scientists from Parliament were unconstitutional alike conjured up varying interpreta- and called for Somare to be reinstated tions of the laws with respect to the as prime minister, a warrant was removal of Somare from Parliament, immediately issued at the direction of thus confusing the public with differ- Namah for the arrest of the chief jus- ing views more than shedding light tice. In a shocking theatrical display, 406 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013)

Namah went to the courthouse with two political factions based on past police personnel calling for the chief loyalties or what they hoped to gain justice to show himself and be arrested from aligning with Somare or O’Neill. (adelaidenow 2012). This was the There was already speculation within first time in the history of the country the expatriate community about an for a politician—deputy head of the imminent military coup, and the executive government and member of public service and bureaucracy were the legislature—to lead the police to confused as to which government they the courthouse calling for the arrest should serve. of the head of the judiciary and the During this entire political dead- courts. lock, it was evident that the key indi- The political impasse led to calls vidual involved in making and break- for the review of the constitution, ing the government was the Speaker which was said to be vague and full of Parliament. , who had of loopholes. This followed calls from been Speaker under the Somare gov- the PNG Constitutional Democratic ernment, jumped ship to the O’Neill- Party for a review to tighten up laws Namah faction as soon as Somare’s in the country (The National, 14 Nov alleged retirement was announced by 2011). However, proponents of the his son. Somare, however, dismissed constitution argued that it was not his son’s announcement of his retire- the ambiguity or inadequacy of the ment and declared that only he could constitution that was the problem but make that decision, not anyone else rather the intention of politicians to on his behalf. However, Speaker Nape inappropriately use the constitution to then declared a vacancy in the position satisfy their personal interests and to of the prime minister and announced legalize their illegitimacy. on the floor of Parliament the dis- The political deadlock with the missal of Somare as prime minister O’Neill and Somare factions both and as East Sepik regional member. claiming to be the legitimate govern- PNG citizens turned to electronic ment led to dual appointments of gov- media such as Twitter and the PNG ernment ministers and heads of almost Facebook group “Sharp Talk” to all key government departments, express their disgust at the immaturity including the police, the PNG Defence of leaders in prolonging the political Force, and the Department of Finance, impasse. The stalemate was left to the which controls the government’s elections to resolve and bring in a new purse. Contravening the constitution government. of the country, for the first time there A few months before the issue of was an odd structure of government writs for the elections, Deputy Prime with two prime ministers—one seek- Minister Namah claimed that the ing legitimacy from the constitution Electoral Commission was unpre- and the courts, the other seeking his pared, as the electoral rolls were yet to mandate from Parliament. be fixed. Therefore, Namah claimed, It was also the first time the coun- there was a valid reason to postpone try saw politicization and division the elections until the roll was fixed. within the police and defense forces, This proposition brought the ire of the with members taking sides with the public, nongovernmental organiza- political reviews ‡ melanesia 407 tions, and churches, who viewed the finding their names on the common elections as perhaps the only process roll and thus not being able to vote. that could end the political impasse. The Commonwealth Observer’s Prime Minister O’Neill refuted his interim report on the elections stated deputy’s claim, saying that the Par- that some of the benchmarks for liament has no authority to defer democratic processes had been met elections and that only the Electoral but several significant challenges Commission can make such a deci- remained to be addressed. Among sion (Post-Courier, 26 June 2012). these challenges were the persistent The Electoral Commission immedi- discrimination against the participa- ately denied Namah’s assertion that tion of women, increasing use of they were not prepared to conduct money to bribe voters, delays in the elections. Electoral Commissioner polling schedules, and widespread Andrew Trawen reassured the public disenfranchisement of citizens because and voters that the commission was of an ineffective voter registration prepared and that the elections should and electoral roll management system commence as scheduled. (Commonwealth Secretariat 2012). As the political deadlock contin- During the election campaign, lead- ued and seemed to permeate other ers of political parties were already segments of the society, the only hope declaring their intentions to vie for the was that the national elections would country’s top seat—the position of the give a fresh mandate to new members prime minister—if they were reelected. of Parliament to form a new govern- The two most popular of these can- ment. While the 2012 national elec- didates were Deputy Prime Minister tions somewhat brought about politi- , leader of the PNG cal stability, the answer to the question Party (PNG Industry News 2012) and of the supremacy of the constitution Don Poyle of the Triumph, Heritage or Parliament remains unresolved, and Empowerment Party (“T.H.E. with the various challenges supposedly Party”). Namah donated 30 million disposed of for the sake of political kina (1k = approximately us$0.48), stability. allegedly from his own pocket, to fund The 2012 elections, like previ- his party’s candidates in the election ous elections, were riddled with the (Post-Courier, 10 May 2012). familiar illegal practices of double and The formation of a government multiple voting, underage voting, elec- depends on the number of seats a toral roll discrepancies, and security party wins; the party with the most problems, especially in the Highlands seats will be invited by the governor- region of the country. Shocking photos general to try to form a government. of very young kids voting in one of Since independence in 1975, gov- the remote electorates in West Sepik ernments have always been formed Province filled the front page of the through a coalition of parties because national dailies (Post-Courier, 24 July no single party has been able to 2012). Perhaps the most glaring prob- achieve an outright majority of mem- lem was that of missing names on the bers. electoral roll. Hordes of disgruntled As the winners of various seats voters complained to the media of not were being declared, it became appar- 408 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013) ent that O’Neill’s People’s National didate from the Highlands region, Congress Party was leading. Somare’s renowned for its traditional male National Alliance Party came to dominance in politics. accept that they would not be a major After winning her seat, the new force in the formation of the govern- Lae Open member, Minister for Com- ment in this election. On 3 August munity Development Loujaya Toni 2012, O’Neill was elected prime declared that the bill for the twenty- minister by an unprecedented par- two reserved seats for women in Par- liamentary majority, which included liament would not be supported by the five members who crossed the floor of government (see Kantha 2011, 498). Parliament from the rival group led by Toni told Parliament that women former Deputy Prime Minister Belden had to prove that they could compete Namah. O’Neill mustered a total with men in politics and that there of 94 votes, while only 11 members was no place for women to have easy stood with Namah. Meanwhile, three entry into Parliament (The National, regional seats of Goroka, National 22 Nov 2012). There were mixed reac- Capital District, and Chimbu were yet tions from women, with some express- to be declared (The National, 4 Aug ing support for Toni’s announcement. 2012). The National Council of Women, The 2012 national election was also who, with the support of the United the first in the history of the coun- Nations in Papua New Guinea, had try that saw three female candidates campaigned for the reserve seats for elected to Parliament. When Dame almost five years, knew that there was , former minister for com- little they could do without a political munity development and lone female champion in Parliament. member of Parliament, announced Eastern Highlands Province Gover- that she would not re-contest the nor Julie Soso, another female member Moresby South electoral seat in the of Parliament, announced plans to elections, there was growing melan- introduce a bill to outlaw polygamy in choly that there would be no female the country, saying that polygamous representative in the highest decision- marriages, a cultural practice in most making arena. Many anticipated that parts of the Highlands region, are not the country might not see another conducive to women making their female member of Parliament for a own decisions (The National, 11 Dec long while because of the male chau- 2012). Women and civil society groups vinism in PNG politics. in the country welcomed the proposal, However, it was not by sheer luck with some members vowing to sup- but by their own merit that the coun- port the bill in Parliament. Although try for the first time had three female the practice is diminishing, it is still Parliamentarians after the counting one of the major causes of gender- came to a close in the Sohe Open seat, based violence in many parts of the the Lae Open seat, and the Eastern country. Highlands Regional seat. It was not Sir , former prime only the first time to have three female minister and member for Moresby members in a single Parliament but North West, also announced his also the first to have a female can- retirement from politics and did not political reviews ‡ melanesia 409 re-contest his seat. Mekere had first ate dealing with national issues (The been elected to Parliament in 1997 National, 20 July 2012). Regrettably, and retained his seat in the 2002 the people of Angoram will have to election before splitting with the go to the polls again, as their new –led People’s Democratic member, MP Schulze, passed away Movement Party to form the new after a long illness on 8 March 2013. PNG Party. Mekere led the country Schulze spent only six months in as prime minister from 1999 to 2002. office; the Angoram Open seat is now In 2011, Mekere handed the leader- vacant pending an announcement ship of the PNG Party to Member for from the Electoral Commission for a Vanimo-Green Belden Namah. Mekere by-election. said that he is stepping down to make The youngest person elected to way for young leaders to take over Parliament was Member for Ambunti- and run the country (Post-Courier, Drekikir Ezekiel Anisi, who claimed 9 May 2012). to be twenty-five years old. Anisi is Prominent among those who the son of former Secretary-General of contested but lost their seats in the People’s Progress Party Alex Anisi. the elections were Member for The party is now under the leadership Angoram Arthur Somare, Mem- of former Prime Minister Sir Julius ber for Lae Open , Chan. However, former Member for Morobe Regional Member Luther Ambunti-Drekikir Tony Aimo dis- Wenge, Member for Wabag Sam Abal, puted Anisi’s election win, claiming Madang Regional Member Sir Arnold that he was under the mandatory age Amet, and Member for Sinasina- of twenty-five and did not have his Yongumugl and Speaker of Parlia- name registered on the common roll at ment Jeffery Nape. the time of voting and was therefore Soon after his election loss, Nape ineligible to contest the elections. In was arrested by the Task Force Sweep, October, the court ruled in favor of a government-endorsed corruption Aimo, declaring the election of Anisi investigation body, for allegedly null and void; Aimo was thus returned misusing K5 million. He was arrested to Parliament. The court found that just after leaving the courthouse on a Anisi was underage when he stood for separate bribery charge for offering elections (Post-Courier, 25 Oct 2012). K30,000 to a rival candidate in the Anisi was the first member of Parlia- Sinasina-Yongumugl seat to induce ment in the 2012 elections to lose his him to step aside (The National, seat in the Court of Disputed Returns. 18 Sept 2012). Both cases are still Given the widespread problems pending. with the electoral roll and other Arthur Somare was a key player in illegal practices in the elections, an the government led by his father, Sir unprecedented 80 members—almost , under the National two-thirds of Parliament—had their Alliance Party. After his loss to former election wins challenged. As the dead- MP Ludwig Schulze, Somare admit- line for filing disputes came to a close ted that he did not do enough for in September, there were a record 105 his electorate and that he had spent election petitions registered with the a lot of time away from the elector- Court of Disputed Returns. (A few 410 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013) election wins have been challenged engagement of Chinese firm Huawei a number of times by different peti- Technologies as the lead contractor to tioners, hence the higher number of establish a national electronic identifi- disputes than the number of members cation card system for us$76 million of Parliament who were challenged.) (k228 million). The minister added To prove that he could only be that the funding would come from removed from Parliament by his the government’s us$3 billion loan constituents and not by Parliament, arrangement with the Export-Import forty-four-year veteran politician Sir Bank of (Post-Courier, 1 Nov Michael Somare re-contested his East 2014). Due to security concerns raised Sepik Regional seat. As anticipated, by the United States Congress about Somare won the election with an over- Huawei and its affiliation with the whelming majority. Most of the votes Chinese government and military (bbc were characterized as “sympathy” News 2012), there is already skepti- votes, since East Sepik Province voters cism about engaging the firm in a were infuriated by the way Somare sensitive exercise such as the biometric had been dismissed from Parliament. system for PNG elections. After winning reelection, in November During the period of political 2012, Somare passed on the leader- impasse it was obvious that a key ship of the National Alliance Party institution, the Ombudsman Commis- to Patrick Pruaitch, the new forests sion, which enforces the Leadership and climate change minister (Sunday Code and scrutinizes the actions of Chronicle, 4 Nov 2012). The results leaders, was very silent. This unfor- of the election saw the National Alli- tunately was largely due to the chief ance Party lose its dominance after ombudsman being very ill and unable being in power for two consecutive to perform his duties. The country lost terms. Since it did not secure enough Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek members to form a government, the on 1 October 2012 after a period of National Alliance Party surprisingly hospitalization. Manek, who was joined in coalition with other parties always very vocal on corruption, had to support Peter O’Neill’s People’s previously escaped an assassination National Congress Party, which then attempt in 2008. formed the government. In November, Prime Minister Given the widespread disenfran- O’Neill announced that the cabinet chisement of citizens and irregularities was considering approving a proposal seen in the elections, there is now a to amend section 145 of the consti- strong call for the introduction of a tution that would extend the grace biometric system for the next elec- period before a vote of no confidence tions. National Planning and Monitor- is allowed from 18 months to 30 ing Minister announced months after Parliament is seated. that Papua New Guinea will use the According to O’Neill, 30 months biometric identification card system in (equivalent to half of a five-year term the 2017 elections to avoid the elec- of Parliament) would give the govern- toral roll and double voting problems. ment sufficient time to implement He further stated that the National its policies and development agenda Executive Council has approved the (Post-Courier, 2 Nov 2012). Since political reviews ‡ melanesia 411

1975, votes of no confidence have everyone was happy with this latest resulted in governments having very visit, including former Prime Minister short tenure, averaging around two Somare, who expressed dismay at his years. This consequently has led to exclusion from the official ceremo- political instability affecting continu- nial program, saying that it showed a ity in major developmental projects lack of respect and common courtesy as well as disrupting the delivery of on the part of the PNG government goods and services. (Sunday Chronicle, 4 Nov 2012). Political parties play a major role During a meeting at Alotau in in PNG politics by endorsing and Milne Bay Province, which led up to funding candidates during elections. the formation of the People’s National However, they are still very loose enti- Congress–led government, coali- ties, with most parties mushrooming tion partners signed a key govern- during election periods and ceasing to ment development blueprint called exist after the elections. According to the Alotau Accord. In the November Dr Norman Kelly in a 2012 election- budget session of Parliament, the debriefing workshop for political government allocated k753 million party officials, Papua New Guinea to the development budget, per the needs strong political parties that are Alotau Accord commitments. The administered by professionally trained development budget is mostly for officers who comply with the Organic infrastructure maintenance and design Law on the Integrity of Political Par- work throughout the country. The ties and Candidates and electoral laws, government’s spending on education in addition to providing leadership also increased by k483.5 million to for party members and PNG citizens. K1.8446 billion under the 2013 budget The officers should also ensure that (The National, 23 Nov 2012). parties have a strong membership base During the year, one of the big- and be able to provide coherent policy gest environmental debates was that alternatives to voters at election time concerning deep-sea mining. Besides (Post-Courier, 16 Nov 2012). With the the multibillion-dollar lng project, political culture in Papua New Guinea, deep-sea mining is a new frontier that especially in the rural localities where has gained interest from other coun- people vote along personal, tribal, and tries such as the United States. Civil ethnic lines, voting for party policies society groups, customary landowners, will take a while to materialize. academics, university students, and the An important and memorable general public argue that the environ- event toward the end of the year was mental costs of deep-sea mining are the royal visit by Prince Charles and unknown and could be catastrophic. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. They However, prospective developer arrived in the country on 3 November Nautilus Minerals Inc of Canada, to a rousing welcome for a three-day which has spent millions of dollars visit. (This was Prince Charles’s fourth exploring the sea floor of the Bismarck visit to Papua New Guinea. The first Sea, is adamant about mining the sea- was when he was seventeen years bed, despite concerns raised about the old, as a pupil in Geelong Grammar environmental consequences of mining School in Melbourne, .) Not on marine ecosystems. 412 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013)

In 2011, the government granted Contravening the requirements for the world’s first deep-sea mining lease citizenship under Papua New Guinea’s to Nautilus Minerals for the develop- Citizenship Act—which, among other ment of its Solwara 1 project in the things, requires a foreigner to be a Bismarck Sea. The mining lease was majority business owner, have signifi- granted for an initial twenty-year cant investments in the country, or term, and the PNG government exer- have lived in Papua New Guinea for cised an option to take a 30 percent ten years or more—Tjandra, while stake in the Solwara 1 project as a seemingly evading prosecution for joint-venture partner. Currently, the embezzlement in Indonesia, was flown government is in an ongoing dis- into Papua New Guinea and immedi- pute with Nautilus over whether the ately given citizenship on the illogical company has fulfilled its obligations basis that it was anticipated that he under the lease agreement. In Novem- would make future investments in the ber, Nautilus announced that it was country. suspending operations because it had Police Minister Nixon Duban con- not resolved the dispute with the gov- firmed that Tjandra was an Interpol ernment and could no longer continue fugitive and that, as a member of to fund the entire project without the that international police organiza- expected PNG government capital tion, Papua New Guinea was obliged infusion (Nautilus Minerals Press to detain and deport him. Questions Release, 13 Nov 2012). about why this did not happen were Ironically, Papua New Guinea is a raised in Parliament by Governor member of the Coral Triangle Initia- for Oro Gary Juffa. The Office of tive, which in 2009 adopted a ten-year the Attorney General was tasked by Regional Action Plan to protect coral the prime minister to investigate the reefs and other marine ecosystems. manner in which Tjandra was granted Issuing environmental permits for PNG citizenship (The National, Nautilus to do deep-sea mining in 23 Nov 2012). the Bismarck Sea contradicted the The reopening of the Manus Island agreement under the Coral Triangle asylum seekers’ detention center Initiative and undermined the role became another contentious issue in of the Department of Environment 2011 and in the early part 2012 when and Conservation as the regulator of the Australian government announced environment in Papua New Guinea its intention to consider Manus Island (Post-Courier, 13 Nov 2012). as an option to deal with the influx of One of the most controversial cases boat people. A detention facility was on the list of high-profile scandals in first established in Manus in 2001 the country occurred when the Citi- under the John Howard government’s zenship Advisory Committee, chaired Pacific Solution and was closed in by the former Minister for Foreign 2005 after completing the processing Affairs and Immigration , of asylum seekers held there. bestowed PNG citizenship on an Indo- National Capital District Governor nesian citizen—alleged fugitive Djoko Powes Parkop, who is originally from Tjandra—through a dubious process. Manus Province, publicly opposed political reviews ‡ melanesia 413 the idea as a fundamental breach of being informed and consulted (The human rights to keep people under National, 23 Nov 2012). detention. The Manus Provincial A report from a study published by Government, on the other hand, was the Asian Development Bank (adb) excited by the economic opportunity was not well received by the boards that the Regional Processing Center of some of the state-owned enterprises would bring to the province. However, (soes) in Papua New Guinea, particu- the provincial government’s concur- larly the National Development Bank. rence came with a list of economic The adb study highlighted the fact expectations and demands. Former that PNG soes absorbed an estimated Governor of Manus Michael Sapau k700 million in direct government expressed his opinion that major infra- transfers during the financial years structure development such as bring- 2002–2009, against which they gener- ing the airport up to international ated a net profit of k500 million and standards, rehabilitating schools, of which only k23 million was paid to improving roads, and upgrading the the treasury in the form of dividends must be carried out in (adb 2012). The PNG soes are Air return for reopening the center (The Niugini, Bemobile, Motor Vehicle National, 26 May 2011). Insurance Ltd (mvil), National Devel- In September, a memorandum of opment Bank, Eda Ranu, PNG Ports understanding was signed between Corporation, PNG Post Ltd, PNG Papua New Guinea and Australia for Power Ltd, Telikom PNG Ltd, and the transfer and processing of asy- Water PNG. lum seekers on Manus Island. PNG The study assessed the impact of Minister for Foreign Affairs Rimbink the soes on the PNG economy and Pato and Australian Trade Minister revealed that while they had produced Dr Craig Emerson signed the agree- net profits that were in the upper ment to build on existing strong range of the soe portfolios they had and cordial relations, stating that benchmarked, they had done so at a the importance of combating people substantial cost to the government in smuggling and irregular migration terms of ongoing fiscal transfers and in the Asia-Pacific region is a shared other subsidies. The study recom- objective. The Regional Processing mended that reforming SOEs in Papua Centre on Manus Island is seen as a New Guinea by placing them on a deterrent to people smugglers (The fully commercial and transparent National, 10 Sep 2012). Locals in footing would enable them to make Manus were frustrated by not being a positive contribution to inclusive informed about issues surrounding economic growth (adb 2012). the presence of the asylum seekers in The findings of the study were their province and wanted contracts refuted by the National Develop- for services such as catering, security, ment Bank, which claimed that it building, and general labor opportu- significantly improved operations and nities to be given to them. The locals generated profits under the former threatened to close the asylum seek- managing director and now member ers’ center because they were not of Parliament for the Yangoru-Saussia 414 the contemporary pacific ‡ 25:2 (2013) electorate, Richard Maru. The study promise with Somare in exchange for is timely, as most of the soes have the National Alliance Party becoming become complacent over the years a coalition partner in the government. and need to improve not only in terms As the political impasse led to divi- of generating profits but also, most sions within the key state institutions, important, in terms of service delivery it is also imperative to amend relevant at a reasonable cost to customers and legislation governing the police and the general public. defense force as well as the public In September, Treasury Minister service to ensure their neutrality in the Don Polye announced that Papua event of major political discord. New Guinea’s domestic and foreign Second, there is a conspicuous trend debt stood at k7 billion and that the of the lack of government attention Department of Treasury is reviewing to matters of national security and the country’s debt-management strat- violation of state sovereignty. Over the egy to maintain it at a manageable past few years, Papua New Guinea has level. However, Papua New Guinea been labeled akin to a transnational continues to borrow, particularly from crime haven for providing political China, to fund its budget deficit. The protection to international fugitives. government announced that it would It is important for the government to be looking at both domestic and inter- swiftly and effectively deal with the national financial markets to borrow Tjandra citizenship scandal and to k2.6 billion to fund the budget deficit penalize politicians and government (Nicholas 2012). ministers responsible for abusing A number of challenges remain national laws, compromising national for Prime Minister O’Neill and his security for personal interest and gain. government in his first term. First and The government must be commit- foremost is the urgency of settling ted to and seen to be serious about the question of the supremacy of the combating corruption, not only in the constitution and Parliament. Doing public service bureaucracy but also in so would more clearly define their the political ranks. respective jurisdictional powers and Third, improvement of the elec- authority in order to avoid another toral roll management, voter regis- political impasse in the future. Regret- tration and identification, and the tably, the Supreme Court reference by implementation of a biometric system the East Sepik Provincial Government must begin immediately to ensure on the legality of the then O’Neill- the success of elections in 2017. It is Namah government was withdrawn in necessary also to revitalize the Elec- February 2013, effectively diminishing toral Commission by restructuring the any chance of a firm and final legal institution and building the capac- opinion on the issue. Further reducing ity of its managers. A key aspect of the likelihood of any resolution of the the change must come from a review question, the controversial amend- of the obsolete Organic Law on the ments to the Prime Minister and National and Local Level Government National Executive Council Act and Elections. The electoral law must be the Judicial Conduct Bill were repealed brought up to date with the chang- by Parliament, supposedly as a com- ing practices and political and social political reviews ‡ melanesia 415 dynamics in the society. A caveat -a-dictatorship/story-e6frea8l is that the engagement of Huawei -1226306794623 [accessed 28 Feb 2013] Technologies in the development of bbc News. 2012. Huawei and zte Pose a biometric system must be reviewed Security Threat, Warns US Panel. 8 Octo- carefully and preference be given to a ber. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business company that has working experience -19867399 [accessed 28 Feb 2013] and knowledge of implementing a Commonwealth Secretariat. 2012. biometric system. Commonwealth Observers’ Interim The new thirty-month grace period Statement on Papua New Guinea’s augurs well for political stability, National Elections. 11 July. http://www continuity, and the commitment of .thecommonwealth.org/news/248442/ the government to adequately and 110712pnginterim.htm [accessed 28 Feb effectively implement its goals set out 2013] in the Alotau Accord. Political stabil- Kantha, Solomon. 2010. Melanesia in ity and continued economic growth Review: Issues and Events, 2009: Papua are paramount, and the government New Guinea. The Contemporary Pacific must ensure it does not devolve into 22:448–459. a “kitchen cabinet,” given that a _____. 2011. Melanesia in Review: Issues majority of the coalition partners are and Events, 2010: Papua New Guinea. remnants of the previous government. The Contemporary Pacific 23:491–504. There must be wider consultation and The National. Daily. Port Moresby. involvement of all relevant stake- http://www.thenational.com.pg holders in any major legislative and decision-making process. Nautilus Minerals Inc. http://www.nautilusminerals.com/ solomon kantha [accessed 20 March 2013] The views expressed in this review Nicholas, Isaac. 2013. PNG to Borrow are those of the author and do not $1.2 Billion to Cover Budget Deficits. represent those of his employer, PNG Post-Courier, 6 February. Archived the International Organization for at Pacific Islands Report: http://pidp .eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2013/ Migration. February/02-06-01.htm [accessed 15 March 2013] References PNG Industry News. 2012. I Want to Be pm: Namah. 11 May. http://www adb, Asian Development Bank. 2012. .pngindustrynews.net/storyview.asp Finding Balance: Benchmarking the ?storyid=8683242§ionsource=s214 Performances of State-Owned Enterprises [accessed 28 Feb 2013] in Papua New Guinea. September. Manila: adb publishing. Post Courier. Daily. Port Moresby. http://www.postcourier.com.pg adelaidenow. 2012. PNG Turning into a Dictatorship. 22 March. http://www Sunday Chronicle. Weekly. Port Moresby. .adelaidenow.com.au/png-turning-into http://www.sunday-chronicle.com