Engans want PM, Namah to quit

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill and his deputy Belden Namah have been asked to step down because of the current constitutional crisis facing the country.
The call was part of a petition presented last Friday to government authorities by about 500 people from the Tsak Valley in Wapenamanda, Enga province.
They walked about 10km to present the petition to the sub-district manager, Iso Lovely, who received it on behalf of the government.
The group was led by Tsak local level government councillors Nathan Iso and Mosen Lai and included women and children.
Their bodies were painted in white clay.
Nathan said the seven Pembe tribe council wards met last Sunday to express their concern over how the government had been treating
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia.
Apart from calling on O’Neill and Namah to step down, they also demanded that the government:
lImmediately repeal the judicial conduct law;
lRescind the decision to defer the general election by six months; and
lReinstate Sir Salamo and Justice Nicholas Kirrowom to their    substantive positions.
The petitioners are giving the government 14 days to respond to their demands.
“If the government fails to give us favourable answers, we have plans for the next course of action.”
Nathan said every person including O’Neill, Namah and the judges were subject to the rule of law. But the government had been unrelenting in its treatment of Sir Salamo.