I agree with Dr Michael Unage that “guided democracy is no solution to PNG’s law and order problem (The National, Feb 20), but if the majority of citizens wish for a guided democracy in a national referendum then we should have it.
This should only be a part of a total solution to ensure our country is made reasonably safe and secure from anti-social elements.
Making laws that are draconian in nature will only be counter-productive, and could seriously undermine good governance. We already have too many laws that are not being properly enforced by the authorities.
In as far as tribal fighting goes; we just need to review current laws governing them and whether they are still relevant to today’s situation.
We only need to refine them so they are practical, less costly to apply and if required proposed scope to rehabilitate people after some period of incarceration.
We must also ensure that in the process of pacifying our people through various intervention policy strategies, our laws do not violate their individual human rights.
If existing laws are not effective to enforce, we must ask why, and make them so; but changing them with new ones for the sake of change is not the answer.
The reality today is that tribal fights will not stop right away. It will take some time to achieve this, but it is a worthwhile goal and a challenge for the educated people from the highlands, their community leaders and MPs.
Dr Michael Unagi is right to assert that any attempt on our part to go down the ‘guided democracy path may seem like admitting to ourselves that our political leadership has failed to constructively engage with the people in positive dialogue.
I fully agree with the writer that problems can be addressed if PNG leaders can demonstrate a strong political will, and effective leadership to properly educate the nation and help improve the quality of life and standard of living.
Only then, can we expect our people to improve their attitude and think as one people, one nation living in peaceful co-existence with each other.


Reginald Renagi, Rigo, CP