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PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare
will not resign and has instructed his lawyers to appeal the decision of
the National Court which quashed attempts to nullify the Moti inquiry
and its final report.
The report, which recommended the prosecution of the Prime Minister and
others for allegedly breaching various laws, has not been officially
released, but its copies have been widely circulated in the country and
overseas on the internet.
Kerenga Kua, lawyer for Sir Michael on the matter, confirmed yesterday
Sir Michael had instructed him to file an appeal after discussing the
court ruling and weighing his options.
“We had discussed the reasons for the judgment and discussed his
options. The Prime Minister certainly felt aggrieved by the decision,
and will appeal (the decision of Justice Bernard Sakora) to the Supreme
Court,” Mr Kua said in a telephone interview.
He described the decision as appealable, adding the Prime Minister had
40 days within which to lodge the appeal.
He said they would study the full text of the decision once the judge
publishes it, to help set out the appeal.
He said the judge reached a decision to dismiss the proceedings after a
summary procedure, but the substantive issue was still pending before
the court.
Justice Sakora has promised to publish his decision this week.
But as the Prime Minister and his lawyers considered their legal
manoeuvres, pressure mounted with more calls for Sir Michael to step
aside and allow the recommendations of the report to be implemented.
The Opposition, which called for him to step down last week, is expected
to turn up the heat in the House when Parliament sits today.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International and outspoken
Catholic Bishop Sir Brian Barnes added their voice to the call for Sir
Michael to step aside.
TIPNG chairman Mike Manning said it was clear from the Moti inquiry
report that the law of the land was broken, and the inquiry had
recommended prosecutions of some of those involved.
“No one is above the law and PNG can be happy that the court emphasised
this in its judgment,” Mr Manning said in a statement.
He said that TI was disappointed that this whole affair had taken place,
apparently involving the Prime Minister and senior bureaucrats in law
breaking and political machinations designed to terminate the inquiry
and prevent the truth from being exposed.
“PNG deserves better than this,” he said, and called on the Government
to now release the report.
He added: “Any further action should be through the courts and the legal
system.”
Meanwhile, Sir Brian described the Moti affair as “by far the most
serious issue facing the Government and people of PNG”.
He said nothing up to this time had been so damaging to PNG’s
credibility, and called for the Prime Minister to step aside.
“There is great concern around PNG about an apparent disregard for the
rule of law and abuse of power evidenced since October 2006, when Moti
was taken from PNG to Solomon Islands. The Prime Minister should now
step aside to allow justice to take its course,” the bishop said.
 
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