PM O’Neill to resign only if Polye provides evidence

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says he will resign immediately  if Opposition Leader Don Polye can provide proof to show that he has benefited from the payments to Paul Paraka Lawyers. “If there is evidence that I have received one financial benefit I will resign tomorrow,” he told Parliament last Thursday during Question Time. Mr Polye took O’Neill to task on several issues which ended up a heated debate initially on the sovereign bond and asked if the Prime Minister could allow himself to be cleared of corruption claims by the authorities.

PM O’Neill said he would not subject himself to a political witch hunt and undermine the Office of the Prime Minister, let alone set the precedence. “I have stated this and I will state it again, if there is evidence that I have received one financial benefit, I will resign tomorrow and I challenge the Opposition Leader to do the same.” On the issue of the sovereign bond, O’Neill told Parliament that they have engaged the most credible and one of the largest banking institutions in the world for advice, reiterating that the issuance of the sovereign bond has been delayed due of the global market