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by Frank Senge Kolma
Taming the inner dictator in us
“TTHERE is dictator in every person
and it constantly screams: “You can have anything you want, if
only you had absolute control.”
It finds expression everywhere – in the home, on the sports field,
at work and in the political arena.
The father exercises his personal dictatorship when he exerts his
will at home and the son walks his pet dictator when he exerts his
authority over his team on the sports field and so on.
This insistent bug is particularly virulent in those who have
tasted political power already.
And so, aided by greed and visions of grandeur and majesty, the
man is a most willing accomplice to his inner dictator’s devious
schemes.
Mostly, however, both are kept under control by convention and
common sense and live merely in the twilight zone of harmless
dreams.
But every once in a while, by accident of birth or death or
thought, word or deed, the ideal opportunity presents itself for
dream to be translated into reality.
Such an opportunity is our Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
I had better explain.
The autonomous region concept is very new to PNG. Indeed, nobody,
including those engineering and implementing the concept on
Bougainville is 100% certain of the nature of the animal they are
nurturing.
The Bougainville Constitution grants the autonomous government
wide ranging powers over all but foreign affairs, defence and
financial matters.
Only Bougainvilleans will have access to political power in the
proposed autonomous province. The Bougainville Constitution
stipulates that only a Bougainvillean may:
*Own customary land;
*Be a candidate in any election and any other elected body;
*Vote in any such election; and
*May have additional rights provided for by a Bougainville law.
The Constitution names the province as the Autonomous Region of
Bougainville and adopts for the future government powers never
before available to any provincial government in PNG.
The Bougainville Constitution, currently being circulated for
comment, provides for Constitutional offices such as:
*Chief Justice and judges;
*Public Prosecutor;
*Public Solicitor;
*Public Services Commission;
*Electoral Commission;
*Boundaries Commission;
*Auditor-General;
*Chief of Bougainville Police;
*Chief of Bougainville Correctional Service;
*Ombudsmen Commission and a Leadership Code; and
*The Bougainville Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
Nobody knows whether we are witnessing the transition phase for a
province of PNG with a troubled past into an independent state or
whether it is going to be another political entity within the
precincts of PNG but with far greater powers devolved to it.
However confusing the concept might be at this early stage, one
idea rises supreme and that, in two words, is: More Power.
And that idea or message is going to appeal to that inner dictator
in so many throughout the country. Already many regions and
provinces throughout the country have indicated interest in the
concept.
And since allowance has been made for Bougainville, there is going
to be increasing pressure for the same to be allowed for other
regions or provinces in the country.
When that happens and it a matter time before it does, it will
spell disaster for PNG.
The PNG State, which is at best a loose collection of regions and
tribal nations, is already fragile because individuals offer their
allegiances more to their regions or tribal nations than to the
PNG nation
Add to that the socio-economic problems facing the country and a
small autonomous region appears more alluring.
Yet 32 years later, provincial leaders are yet to come to grips
with and use the powers available to them under the Organic Law on
Provincial and Local Level Governments or its predecessor, the
Organic Law on Provincial Governments.
In most instances, the second- and third-tier systems of
Government in PNG have been abject failure. That “failure”
statement needs qualification.
It is not the concept or the laws that need modification. It is
approach and application of the laws and policies that need
drastic overhauling.
PNG has been blaming the laws and the systems and processes and
has been trying to modify them all the time and has been blind to
the real culprit: The human factor.
Laws, systems and processes are only as good as the people who run
them. If the people are no good, the system will be no good. If
they are good, success is a matter of course.
The truth of the above statement is in the reforms to the
provincial government system which came into force in 1995.
Thirteen years on, delivery of goods and services to the rural
populace has not moved one iota. Yet there are more paid
politicians at every level of Government and political power
playing has reached the village level.
If only goods and service could follow, the rural population would
be the better for them.
There is a lesson from history that all should learn from.
This is the second time that Bougainville has gone after something
which has been imposed unwittingly upon an unprepared PNG.
In the first instance, the provincial government system was
imposed on PNG on the back of a black mail by Bougainville in 1976
to secede from the year old Independent State of PNG.
The Father of the Decentralization Principle is John Momis, long
time Regional Member for Bougainville since 1972 who only resigned
his seat just recently to contest the Bougainville government
elections.
As deputy chairman of the Constitutional Planning Commission, it
fell to him to put the final nuts and bolts of the PNG
Constitution in place. Chairman Michael Somare was busy putting
the nuts and bolts to the peaceful transfer of powers and
functions from Australia to be bothered with the Constitutional
paperwork.
The Decentralisation Principle found expression at Chapter 10 of
the Constitution of PNG which called for the establishment of a
provincial government system as soon as the Organic Law and the
other enabling laws were approved by Parliament.
With so much on the Constituent Assembly’s plate and with the date
for Independence a fortnight away, the assembly when it met in
August 1975 for the last time, threw out Chapter 10 in its
entirety for possible debate and inclusion at a later date.
For John Momis, the heart had been carved out of the PNG
Constitution and in 1976 he and other Bougainvilleans agitated for
secession when he walked out of Parliament with all the Members of
Bougainville. This led to the first amendment and the inclusion of
the provincial government provision.
Had the provincial government system been applied in progressive
manner with provinces only attaining provincial government as they
became eligible for them, ours might have been a different story.
But as it turned out, Bougainville got provincial government,
every other province clamoured for it and got it. Many were
unprepared and the result is now common knowledge.
And now we stand on the threshold of Bougainville attaining
another political entity. Under the law, although not stated
explicitly it is implied that this is a special case for
Bougainville alone because of the bloody uprising there.
But every province is going to want autonomous government as
Bougainville can make it work as it did the provincial government
system before the crisis.
But the rest of PNG is not prepared. If it cannot handle the
powers available under the provincial government system, how can
it handle increased powers. It is a recipe for disaster. It is
time to tame the inner dictator.
 
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