Peter O'Neill, best performing Prime Minister in PNG' history

Commentary by Mel Margaret 

Since 2012 the current PM Hon. Peter O’Neill has become the centre of attraction on controversial issues relating to corruption. On the other hand he is the best performing PM in the short political history of this country.
What the current PM has done for the country cannot be measured to what any PM in the history of our country has done to date.
And before we highlight his success we must also note that there have been those individuals, political factions and intending candidates who have always gone out of their way to try removing the current PM from office.

SO WHY DO PEOPLE HATE PETER O’NEILL
The million kina question that has been hanging on peoples’ mind over many months is why certain factions and individuals within the political arena in the country have been hell bent on removing the current PM from office.
The campaign to remove the current PM continues to this day with zero effect on achieving its goal – to sabotage the Office of the PM, a political ploy from those associated with selfish parliamentarians and their cronies.
The campaign to remove the current PM has been very unsuccessful despite creative jargons used in content dissemination by the anti-O’Neill team on social media.
It is quite funny how the anti-O’Neill campaign has become very biased and continues to run under the anti-corruption banner in Papua New Guinea.
Even our law and justice system if not managed careful will set a very dangerous precedence on destroying the reputation of any future Prime Minister in the country.
Overtime we have allowed flaws to exist within our law and justice system to exist either by intent or not, either way, the end result does not warrant a safe haven for any future leader of this country who occupies the Office of the Prime Minister.
These are the very flaws that exit within the system many of our education elite continue to manipulate for their personal and political intent.
And whilst many of our people continue to voice their concerns about why the current PM has not submitted himself to the laws of this country on allegations of corruption they failed to realise how they continue to be misguided by a few who have taken advantage of the flaws within the law and justice system to achieve their objective.
So why are people claiming that the current PM is corrupt and acting as though he is above the law?
People do not understand that we still have flaws that exist within our legal system people continue to abuse for their own gain.
There are processes and procedures that we follow according to the laws of this country. And although everyone is subject to the laws of this country, there are procedures and processes we need to understand before passing judgement on any particular issue especially when it concerns the Office of the Prime Minister.
The PM is a mandated leader elected into Parliament by his people. He is the head of his political party and supported by other coalition parties who recognise his leadership quality and seniority as a parliamentarian leader. And therefore, the office he occupies, is the highest office in the land we cannot treat like any ordinary office. The office of the Prime Minister cannot be taken over and changed overnight because of some corruption allegation.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CRIMINAL CODE AND THE LEADERSHIP CODE
The criminal code deals with offences committed by anyone in the country while the leadership code deals with anyone holding public office such as MPs, departmental heads, state representatives and in those charge of government agencies. Therefore, for an investigation to be carried out by the Ombudsman Office must have a complaint that has information with credible source.
The criminal code applies to everyone in the country, even the leaders in parliament where a complaint is registered at the police station in an Occurrence Book (OB) and deemed as an official complaint.
Any allegation on corruption that is lodged as complaint at the Ombudsman Commission’s Office must be supported with some credible evidence to warrant an investigation case by the OC.
At the police station an offence is reported and registered in the Occurrence Book whilst being given a number also known as an OB number. No one can report an allegation at the police; only make a complaint.
Say an allegation is based on some form of evidence, we know the matter is handled by the courts to determine whether or not the evidence presented is sufficient enough to prosecute the offender in court.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have accused the PM of being guilty on allegations of corruption when he has not been questioned or charged. Why has the PM not been charged as yet? The PM cannot submit to anyone at this stage that has worked in the shadows and under controversial circumstances to affect his arrest. Those who have colluded in the grand scheme of trying to remove the current PM from office and instil a new government cannot succeed due to a simple fact – they themselves are not honest and transparent.
We have always adhered to the Leadership and Criminal code, which are both distinct to each other. However, there are occasions where people seem to have abused processes to gain their own intentions. A clear indication is how a warrant of arrest was obtained through the signature of a district court magistrate when an interview with the PM did not take effect.
Can anyone simply arrest the PM of any country? The answer is NO. The PM occupies the highest public office in the land and therefore procedures taken to address the issue looks more a means to an end meaning – by achieving the arrest of the PM they can achieve their ultimate goal in removing the current PM from office. If they wanted the PM arrested they knew it would have taken time through the Ombudsman Commission Office and therefore used a lower court magistrate to sign documents to effect the arrest.

WHERE DID IT GO WRONG
Now when you go to the Police Station to make a complaint, the complaint is registered in the Occurrence Book. From the complaint an investigation is done and obviously the suspect is apprehended and interviewed before being charged.
The charges are then brought to court to decide on whether or not the defendant is guilty of a penalty of not.
There are other cases where an arrest is imminent after the offence is committed. This action mainly deals with more harsh cases such as murder, rape, burglary, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
The scenario presenting itself on how a complaint was made that led to the warrant of arrest on the PM does not look right at all. It never looked right from the very beginning.
1. Firstly, the Fraud squad police sought a warrant of arrest from a District Court Magistrate
when they failed to request an interview with the PM in the very first place. There is no
record showing the PM was invited for questioning before a WARRANT OF ARREST was
sought.
2. Secondly, the Fraud squad officers failed to report to their superior – Police Commissioner on
up dates regarding their investigations.
3. Thirdly, all police operations to effect the arrest of the PM came from outside the normal
Police budget as confirmed through internal investigations.
4. All write-ups leading up to the arrest and disseminated on social media by certain individuals
seem to have in their possession a road map or a master plan that was already plotted and in
effect.
5. Read most stories on social media forum today about politics and see how people are obsessed
about the PM on his public and private life.

GOSSIP IS NOT FACT
Papua New Guinea people discuss and talk openly on the street, at events, in schools, and elsewhere about events related directly to politics in Papua New Guinea. Mothers, children and the old folks at home and even in the villages are politically orientated because it is an integral part of the country’s cultural traditions and practise.
There is a saying that Papua New Guineans whether they are educated or ill educated are no different to the ‘buai seller’ on the street who believe in the tales of mouth-watering gossip that is no different to a cargo cult practice.

PETER O’NEILL WAS A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN BEFORE POLITICS
A lot of people are led to believe that Peter O’Neill is a crook and thief and that he should be locked up and have the keys to his cell thrown away. Yet many of these people who are semi-illiterate do not know how that Peter O’Neill was already a multimillionaire before he was elected into parliament. In fact the current PM owns several big companies that operate in the country.

FAKE NEWS PROPAGATED BY FAILED POLITICAL CANDIDATES & THEIR SUPPORTERS
Peter O’Neill has been the subject of controversy due to the fact that many of the contracts awarded by the national government to maintain roads, bridges and government buildings in the country, were given to close associates of the PM. This is the news that is propagated and spread around the country by certain individuals with political aspirations and interest.
Throughout the history and study of politics around the globe and also stems from ancient tradition that many of the contracts awarded to contractors have always had political strings. There is not one contract given out during the Roman, Greek and Persian Empire many hundreds of years ago did not have a political attachment.
The issue is when these contracts are awarded in the past the contractors never accomplished their task by completing their projects. And even if they did the roads and bridges would breakdown in less than 5 years.
There has not been one single government to date who will match the success of our current PM, Hon. Peter O’Neill.

THE HATE GAME AGAINST PETER O’NEILL
The campaign to remove Peter O’Neill took effect in August 2, 2011 when O’Neill took over as PM in August 2, 2011. And from then on politicians, businessmen, lawyers and their supporters have always been working to remove the current PM.
The question is why do these very people work to remove the current PM when he is the best performing PM in the political history of our country.

PETER O’NEILL’S SUCCESS AND RESULTS AS PM SINCE 2012
INFRASTRUCTURE
* Investment on bridges totalling K35 million
* Investment in 5,156.1km of sealed roads
* K3 billion invested on good conditioned roads
* Funding Operations and Capital Investment Program;
* National Roads Maintenance and Investment Program
* Highlands Highway Investment Program
* Transport Sector Support Programme
* Lae Nadzab Road
* City Roads
* CADIP
* Rural Airstrips
* POM International Airport
* Lae Port
* Maritime Waterways Safety Project
AGRICULTURE
* Investment of K35 million on Coffee Industry
* 8,669 farmers reached, rehabilitated 1,639 hectares and 36 new nurseries constructed
containing over 1,687 million seedlings

HEALTH
* 590 new nurses trained
* Investment of K3 billion in the sector
* Over K5 billion invested in DSIP and PSIP on extension of health care
* K100 million invested on the country’s main referral hospital (POM Gen)
* Rehabilitation of some of the country’s major hospitals
* Establishment of Community Health Posts in 7 provinces
EDUCATION
* Investment of over K1.8 billion kina over 5 years
* Girls make up 46% of all students attending school
* Increase Enrolment in Higher Education from 6% (27,000) in 2012 to 18% (33,000) in
2016
* K2.7 billion on Tuition Fee Free (TFF) Education
LAW & JUSTICE
* Over 2,600 new police recruits
* Investment over K276 million in police modernisation program
* K74 million on Police Infrastructure and capital works
* Over 30% increase in number of Police Stations from 184 in 2012 to 240 in 2016
* Over 65 percent increase in number of Village Courts from 1,190 in 2011 to 1,975 in
2016
* Major Crimes reported per 100,000 population reduced from 91 in 2012 to 68 in 2016
ECONOMY
* Real GDP Growth of 35.7% since 2012
* Annual GDP growth rate of 8%
* GDP per capita has increased by 51.6 % since 2012
* Non-mining employment has grown by 2.8% while total employment has increased by
3.2%
* Largest minimum wage increase from K1.50 to K3.30