Duma, Sir J say O’Neill has earned their support

National

United Resources Party leader and Hagen MP William Duma and People’s Progress Party leader Sir Julius Chan say they support Prime Minister Peter O’Neill because of the work he has done.
Sir Julius, a former prime minister, said O’Neill deserved to be in the position because of the work he had done.
He said he was “touched” by O’Neill’s statement after being elected.
“It’s one of recognising some of the errors of the past and looking to the future,” Sir Julius said.
“People sometimes think that we are angels.
“We are not angels. But we are not devils either.
“We are somewhere in between.
“We make mistakes and we look to the people to correct them.”
Duma said despite the very challenging task of managing PNG, O’Neill had stood up to the task, “to the best of his ability”.
“Halfway through the last government of our prime minister, the commodity prices suddenly dropped,” Duma said.
“The economy was struggling, and yet, our prime minister was able to set in motion plans which enabled the last government to put out infrastructure projects, and able to continue delivering very important basic services such as free health and free education.
“He was able to manage the country, something for which I commend the prime minister.
“I also must remind our prime minister that retaining the trust and confidence of a very complex country like Papua New Guinea, demands 100 per cent dedication and loyalty, and he is blessed with so many leaders around him.
“When you have founding fathers such as Sir Julius Chan, who leads a very important coalition partner, the People’s Progress Party, and Paias Wingti, coupled with deputies like Sir Puka Temu, John Pundari, Michael Nali and Chris Haiveta, and very-experienced ministers
in his cabinet, how can we go wrong?
“I don’t see us going wrong.”
Duma appealed to all the MPs to give O’Neill the support that he needs.