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PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare
said yesterday that he would not relent to calls from the Opposition for
him to step down as he had not committed any crime.
He told Parliament that the Government led by him had been given a new
mandate by the people and that he had not committed any crime.
“I arrived yesterday. Yes, there was warning there for my arrest but
arrest me for what? What crime have I committed, Sir Mereke (Morauta),
Bart Philemon, Julius Chan, for you to call me to step down?
“I did not give the order to bring Sandline,” he said during question
time.
He said Sir Julius stepped down because “he gave orders for Sandline to
come and kill 20,000 people in Bougainville”. “That’s atrocity, that’s
murdering. He (Sir Julius) stepped down because he made a big wrong. A
sin.”
He said Sir Mekere was prime minister when some university students were
killed during a protest against the government’s privatisation policy
but he never stood down.
“So what wrong have I committed to step down?”
Mr Philemon interjected several times, causing Sir Michael to finally
retort “shut up you …..” which started a heated round of name-calling by
several Members in the House.
The Prime Minister later agreed to withdraw the remark.
Sir Michael also lambasted the Post-Courier and warned that he might
initiate legislation to regulate the newspaper publishing industry.
He said Australia and other countries do it and PNG was the only country
that still allowed the media to operate in complete freedom.
“They (Post-Courier) said I sneaked in when Air Niugini did not have an
aircraft and therefore organised with Malaysian Airways for a B747
because there were a lot of passengers waiting to travel here and from
Port Moresby.
“Why should I hide my face? I am the leader and father of this nation. I
was here when this country was born. Why should I hide my face, get into
the vehicle and escape?” he said angrily.
He accused the Post-Courier of trying to discredit the Government by not
promoting its achievements but rather foreign interests.
“(It has been) 40 years now and I am fed up with this country (for)
still allowing foreigners to own newspapers here. I would be bringing
the legislation to regulate the papers,” he said and also asked Speaker
Jeffrey Nape to refer the newspaper to the Privileges Committee for
failing to report on development in the country.
 
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