Chan wants fair consultation

By JEFFREY ELAPA
consultations must be held before making laws for the benefit of the nation, New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan has said.
He said the law passed by parliament on the age of prime ministers “is a bad law for this country”.
“Any law must be made to consider the future and not to entrench oneself or a group,” he said.
He said the law must be for good governance and not to serve the interest of one government.
“You see some of the laws we have now. They are some of the best laws we made for this country,” he said.
Sir Julius warned that too much power and overwhelming parliamentary numbers “is dangerous for a country” as they could bulldoze laws that would affect the future generation.
He said all dictators in Africa had come about through the use of democratic system and the parliament to rule.
He said Papua New Guinea must not pass a law blindly that could be dangerous for this country and the Constitution.
He said the recent law of the coalition was not good as there was no
proper consultation.
He said he did not support the law as it restricted the rights of the people who elected their leaders despite their age as they believed in the leadership of a person.
He said he was not against the government but he was against the passing of the budget as some of the laws made by the government “are detrimental to the nation and its future generation”.
“I have a record of leaving the Somare government because of no consultation and I will not support laws that are detrimental to this nation,” he said.