Lae MP Loujaya Kouja joins Polye's T.H.E Party

Lae MP Loujaya Kouza  has joined the Opposition Leader Don Polye’s Triumph Heritage Empowerment party and her alliance consequently boosted the Opposition’s numerical strength to ten.

Mr Polye has welcomed her into both THE Party and other coalition parties in the Opposition.

The Lae MP  signed necessary papers to give effect to her decision to team up with THE Party led by Mr Polye.

This brings to five the number of THE Party members now in the Opposition and a total of ten Opposition MPs with many expected to join in the coming weeks.

Mr Polye has pledged his undivided support to work with the MP in addressing the issues being faced by the marginalised, the disadvantaged, the women folk in par with other issues of national importance.

When expressing his gratitude to her for taking a bold stance, Mr Polye said her alliance with his party was not an ordinary one.

“My strongest believe is that her joining our party is not just aligning with a leader but she has got strong values, quality leadership, integrity and a lot of credibility.

“She is not just as a professional person but she has got the credentials which are very high and more importantly as a leader who has upright principles to develop a high level of leadership culture in PNG,” said Mr Polye.

He said he believed in the leadership that she had been providing for the people of Morobe and the country as a whole in her previous capacity as a cabinet minister.

“I am very happy to welcome her to the Triumph Heritage Empowerment party.

“She will be my deputy Parliamentary leader of the party along with the other four regional deputies,” he said.

Mr Polye said the parliamentary caucus of the party would convene a meeting with the other MPs and of which she will be a party to.

He said THE party set a record in 2012 General Election when its two female candidates won two seats in the country.

“We must have this leadership balanced. Only men cannot provide effective leadership without the quality participation of gender balance. This is very important.

“The bird of Paradise cannot fly with one wing alone. The beautiful bird flies with its pair of wings. It enables the bird to fly the breaths and length of the country,” he said.

He said there was a need for partnering the leadership of both male and the female composition of the nation together.

He added that was where the Lae MP would be of high value which, he said, he would be looking up to and support her address gender issues among others in par with the national issues.

When thanking her party leader for the confidence he has in her, Ms Kouza said in PNG politics to have a confidence of a leader from the Highlands region was ‘just a lot for the cultural change which the country has been going through.’

She said she would continue to work closely with the Morobe governor and Bulolo MP and Deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil in addressing Morobean issues in par with other issues of national interest.

She said they had a dialogue and that they would continue to have a very strong working relationship in the Opposition with them and other MPs aligned to our respective political parties in the Opposition.

“We will continue to work closely with the governor, Mr Basil and others with pertaining to issues in Lae with the leadership of THE party, Pangu Party and other coalition parties in the Opposition.

“To show that solidarity to our people from other provinces who live in Lae is a way forward,” she said.

The MP said some level of confidence in the alignment she just reached with THE Party was not only on pushing for regional issues but also national issues.

“THE party alliance is the way to move on to address issues in Lae and elsewhere in PNG,” she said.

She said she was confident of promoting the rights of the indigenous people, their equity and royalty issues, adding corruption cannot be handled alone but through a gender balance.