Opposition Leader Don Polye questions PNG's Political stability

A poor leadership in a stable government is dangerous for the country, Opposition Leader Don Polye warns.

Mr Polye issued the warning whilst commenting on leaders including the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill calling for political stability.

“I would like our people to understand it. Stability must be conditional. When you have got a poor, rogue leadership running the affairs of the country, political stability is dangerous for our country.

“What is that stability for? Why do you want to be stable? Because you want to keep growing the economy and to fight corruption and not enriching oneself using the position he or she holds. That stability must destroy what is bad for our country,” a concerned Polye said.

He outlined why PNG needed political stability, saying it is needed to arrest corruption and prosecute those defraud the State with public funds.

“You need stability for employment creation and to skill our people to prosper becoming economically independent. If you are really talking about stability, it must give birth to something good for the country. What is the product of stability?

“Its product must be prosperity, success, growth and stability in economy, consistency in cash flow, equal distribution of wealth among PNGeans, irrespective of their gender, tongue and ethnicity. These must be the real products of stability,” he said.

Polye queries whether the O’Neill-Dion government has achieved these products of political stability, citing the controversial Manumanu land deal is not an attribute of a stable government.

“The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should be growing now at 7 to 8 per cent but it not. It has declined to 2 per cent. This is not a stability. There is volatility in the economic situation.

“What our citizens should know is that cash flow is there but is at the hands of private sector and a few individuals. It is not in the public coffers. Those few are billionaires and millionaires. It is not in the hands of the majority of our people. Peter O’Neill has been talking about stability and this is what he has achieved for the country,” he said.

Polye stated that stability depended on who was in office, the quality of leadership and what had been achieved out of stability.

“At the moment, political stability in this term of Parliament has not done anything good. It has been a curse for PNG. For instance, K3 billion UBS loan and foreigners taking over businesses reserved for our people are the products of stability in O’Neill-Dion government.

“The desired stability was given but the mandate was abused and misused. PNG has suffered from the stable political environment created,” he said.