MPs betray Belden Namah

OPPOSITION Leader Belden Namah yesterday said he felt betrayed by the 10 national parliamentarians who abandoned his PNG Party despite him personally spending over K50 million to fund their electioneering in the 2012 general elections.

But the Opposition Leader said he will not blame the MPs but the Government and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill for not honoring their commitment to provide funding to the respective leaders.

"I am not surprised by the exodus of MPs from the Opposition to the Government," Mr Namah said. "It is not the first time this has happened and I have warned that my fight against corruption may leave me one-man standing in the Opposition."

"I feel betrayal, of course, you will feel betrayed and simply because to win a seat in a general election is very difficult," he told a press conference in Port Moresby yesterday.

"A lot of candidates look for political parties that will sponsor them to run under that party and then they look for funding. I spent a substantial amount of money but I don’t complain. I think in history since independence, I was the only leader of a party that announced how much money I was going to use or spend during the election and everybody heard and I declared it publicly and it was going to come from my own pocket."

Looking back at the 2012 polls, Mr Namah said he invested time and resources in the MPs and campaigning for them in their own electorates nearly cost him his Vanimo-Green electorate.

"I spent more time campaigning for my candidates then campaigning for myself. The guilt does not belong to me; the guilt belongs to them, so yes I do feel betrayed."

Mr Namah lamented the deterioration of PNG politics to "money politics" and said elections were becoming an expensive exercise.

The 10 MPs include his deputy Sam Basil, who has now joined Pangu Pati and Amkat Mai (Sandaun regional), Ross Seymour (Huon Gulf), Jim Kas (Madang regional), Francis Marus (Talasea), Francis Potape (Komo-Magarima), Lauta Atoi (North Bougainville), Daniel Mona (Goilala) and Lucas Dekena (Guinea) who have all switched to the PNG Party.

A number of the MPs, who switched parties and spoke on conditions of anonymity to the Post-Courier, singled out the leadership of Mr Namah as the reason for their departure.

Despite his surprising exit, Mr Basil maintained that he was still an Opposition MP and only moved because the Morobe people did not have a party leader.

The switch would also consolidate his position in preparation for the 2017 general election, according to the Bulolo MP.

 

PNG Today / Post Courier