Sir Julius : 'I lost a Close Friend'

 ''PNG has lost a great leader but I lost a close personal friend.'' These are the words emotionally expressed from New Island Governor Sir Julius Chan following the news of the passing of Grand Chief Sir Micahel Somare.

Sir Julius, a former Prime Minister and one of the founding fathers who worked alongside Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare and others to unite this country of a thousand tribes and diverse cultures.

Sir Julius recalls being sent by Sir Michael to the United Nations Trusteeship Council in 1973 to present PNG’s Bid for Independence to the UN Trusteeship Council Members and many other memories.

''We have worked together as politicians, leaders,  and more so as brothers in those formative years, for one common purpose and that was to unite this great nation of thousand tribes, and Grand Chief was very instrumental in making it an independent nation, with great charisma, passion and a great sense of nationalism and patriotism, that was him, a great man,'' Sir Julius recalls. 

Sir Julius Chan GCL GCMG KBE PC served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997.

''There are times we argue and disagree but all that was done for the common good and we all understood too well the common denominator within us and that was to unite and foster our nation and nothing else,'' said Sir Julius Chan. 

Sir Julius says Sir Michael was a born leader in every sense, and he had given all his best years to PNG.

 On behalf of his family and the people of New Ireland, Sir Julius expressed his deepest condolences on the passing of the father of PNG, Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare.

NBC News / PNG Today

Next : PNG Opposition Leader Namah Describes Grand Chief Sir Somare as God-fearing & Humble Man