Wingti's gamble sparks PNG crisis

October 20, 1993
Issue 

By David Robie

PORT MORESBY — A manoeuvre by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Paias Wingti has plunged the country into a constitutional crisis. The move follows growing unrest about Wingti's plans to abolish the nation's provincial government system and controversial legal system changes.

By resigning suddenly and then being re-elected moments later, Wingti hoped to stave off a likely no-confidence vote early next year and guarantee power for his coalition government until the 1997 general election.

But the ploy has provoked a wave of anger. Four thousand protesters marched on parliament demanding the resignations of Wingti, parliamentary speaker Bill Skate and governor-general Sir Wiwi Korowi.

The protesters carried banners and placards proclaiming "Democracy not demo-crazy", "No to tyranny and dictatorship", "Guided democracy is dictatorship" and "To avoid a vote of no-confidence is a step toward dictatorship".

Opposition leader Chris Haiveta accused all three of a conspiracy and filed a Supreme Court challenge to Wingti's actions. Deputy prime minister Sir Julius Chan admitted that he and his People's Progress Party had not been consulted by their coalition partner, Wingti's People's Democratic Movement. Six backbench government members defected and formed a new party, the Indigenous People's Liberation Movement.

The national daily Post-Courier said the instant re-election of the prime minister after his secret resignation the day before must raise serious questions about the future of parliamentary democracy.

Four days into the crisis, anger was fuelled by a secret meeting between new Chief Justice Arnold Armet and Wingti. Haiveta challenged the impartiality of the judiciary, but the chief justice defended his action, saying the discussion was about a drastic cut of the judiciary budget.

Wingti's unpopularity has been growing because of a controversial Internal Security Act, planned introduction of an identity card system, arbitrary moves to combat crime and a radical change to constitutional freedoms. The law changes include abandoning the traditional "innocent until proven guilty" basis of the justice system.

Defending his actions, Wingti said he needed to be re-elected to ensure the political stability of the country for investors until the 1997 election. Since independence in 1975, no-confidence votes have frequently toppled coalition governments.

Taking a full-page advertisement in the Post-Courier to explain his move, Wingti added that he had engineered his re-election to avoid the "corruption" of the political numbers game. He said no-confidence motions involved "greed", "inducements offered to MPs", "auctioning of men's political souls" and "prostituting of the [political] system".

Under Section 142 of the constitution, parliament cannot bring a no-confidence vote now for 18 months, until March 1995. There is also a one-year grace period before the election. This leaves an eight-month period when a no-confidence motion can be brought, but Wingti could choose not to call a parliamentary sitting during that time.

Constitutional Commission chairperson Ben Micah described Wingti's re-election as a "sad day in the history of Papua New Guinea". He said the so-called coup had discredited the government and cast doubt on provincial government reforms being steered by the commission, established barely a day before the crisis began.

Micah is facing his own revolt from the nation's 19 provincial premiers over the bipartisan committee's report recommending that the provincial government system be abolished.

Ten premiers and their governments have already been suspended over allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Micah's committee recommended the system be restructured into smaller political units, to be known as provincial authorities, and that the National Planning Office be re-established.

Rebel premiers have vowed to hold a month-long referendum which they hope will endorse the present provincial system. Results are expected about November 1.

Premiers from island provinces have appealed to the United Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat to send observers. The island premiers said the present system guaranteed the nation's 3.8 million people control over their political and socioeconomic development.

The islands premiers said they would secede if the Wingti government forced the reforms on the people. "It will not be us moving away from the rest of the country, but the rest of the country led by the national government which will move away from us", they said.

Manus Premier Stephen Pokawin, popular head of the most remote island, which has an enlightened government and a community political system envied by other provinces, declared his people would burn copies of the Micah report in protest. The Southern region is also moving to break away.

Central Premier Paul Kipo said the Micah proposal was a move back to Australian colonial times. "We had kiaps [local colonial administrators] and area authorities in those days", he said.

The premiers said the move would strip provincial people of their rights. They would have no right to negotiate resources development and other developments in the provinces. They also fear the move is towards dictatorial rule. The proposed provincial authorities would have no legislative powers but would act as agents of the national government.

"In the case of resources, people cannot protest because they have no powers", said the premiers. "If they protest then the government will use the Internal Security Act against them."

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