Papua New Guinea needs to take urgent action to save itself from a looming economic and financial storm, former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today. Sir Mekere, an economist and former head of Treasury, the Bank of Papua New Guinea and other institutions, said the nation cannot continue on its present course. “The Prime Minister has had plenty of warning from his own expert advisers in Treasury and from eminent foreign institutions and observers,” Sir Mekere said. “Good senior people in Treasury have been side-lined or sacked, or shipped out if a foreigner. Anyone who raises concerns suffers personal attack from the Prime Minister. “Or, as with the peaceful protestors who gathered a
People need to be aware of increasing threats by the current Government to the right of free speech and to the freedom and independence of the media, former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today. “These precious rights and freedoms are under attack as never before by a Prime Minister demonstrably determined to silence legitimate criticism – including criticism of the official corruption that appears to exist at the heart of government,” he said. “The Prime Minister’s use of the NICTA Act to clamp down on freedom of speech and the media is an unparalleled abuse of power. The nation would seem to be moving step by step towards becoming a dictatorship. “Freedom of speech and a fearless,
Two former Prime Ministers, Sir Mekere Morauta and Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, today called on the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, to explain to the nation why he has saddled Papua New Guinea with a huge financial burden with the UBS-Oil Search loan, which is aggravating the Government's simmering fiscal crisis. Information revealed publicly in the past few days raises many questions about the $1.2 billion loan, for the Government to buy a 10 percent shareholding in Oil Search, and shows that it has had a severe adverse impact on the nation's finances. "We already know that the loan is illegal, in that Mr O'Neill did not go to Parliament for approval, as required," the two said. "And that