For the greater good of the country

 PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill’s decision to withdraw his appeal in the Supreme Court against the National Court’s refusal to stay a warrant of arrest against him is commendable and necessary to put out the wildfires of misinformation and confusion that have been raging across the country and abroad for the past three weeks.

O’Neill has instructed his lawyers to withdraw other legal proceedings that have been initiated on his behalf in connection with the K71.8 million payment to Paul Paraka Lawyers. 

His latest move follows the decision by Chief Magistrate Nerrie Eliakim in the Waigani District Court last Friday to refuse an application by Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki to stay the warrant of arrest.

The O’Neill camp had anticipated a decision in favour of Vaki but Eliakim ruled otherwise, saying the court would not interfere in the constitutional duties of the police.

The chief magistrate ruled that a warrant of arrest was a legal requirement for the charge of official corruption and she agreed with Justice Ere Kariko’s decision in the National Court last Tuesday that police were entitled to arrest a suspect based on evidence they had. 

Court decisions must be respected and O’Neill’s decision to withdraw his appeal and other legal proceedings show that the nation’s chief executive has the highest regard for the judiciary.

“Today, after considering all the events of the past three weeks, I have instructed my lawyers to withdraw all the legal proceedings, including the appeals, that they have initiated on my behalf,” O’Neill said,

“I want to respect the decisions of the courts, even the recent decisions by Justice (Ere) Kariko and of course the Chief Magistrate and I will continue to rely on the Commissioner of Police.

“I will respect the Commissioner of Police to do his job.

“We will provide an interview or a statement, as and when it is required by him, and I believe that it is through an independent process in which the investigators have an objective mind.”

It is envisaged that O’Neill’s decision to withdraw all legal proceedings will put an end to the political and legal turmoil that has gripped Papua New Guinea over the past three weeks.

The Prime Minister admitted last week that investor confidence was at its lowest ebb, while Opposition leader Belden Namah blamed O’Neill for instigating the issue by his blatant refusal to front up for an interview at police headquarters.

Whoever is right or wrong, it seems the blame-game will never end.

The social media frenzy, spurred by misinformation, speculation and rumour, was bigger than the FIFA World Cup.

It seemed like every man and his dog wanted to have their say on this contentious and contemptuous issue. 

Confusion reigned supreme.

Hopefully, common sense will now prevail with the Prime Minister’s decision to back off and allow Police Commissioner Vaki to manage the issue.

O’Neill wants an end to the on-going political and legal saga that is causing confusion and anger among our people and scaring away potential foreign investors.

“Let us stay focused on the matter on hand, and we respect the rule of law and we respect the office that we occupy,” he told the two daily newspapers yesterday.

“I know the truth will speak for itself in the end and I’m very confident.

“We need to put an end to this saga that has been going on in light of important international events that are taking place in our country, including the Melanesian Festival of Arts, the recent Melanesian leaders’ meeting, and the forthcoming visit of the Japanese Prime Minister with a 200-plus delegation on Thursday.

“I think we need to put an end to the events we have encountered over the last three weeks.”

We could not agree more.

PNG has been under the spotlight for the wrong reasons over the past three weeks and it is time to wake up from this nightmare.

The Prime Minister’s decision can only be for the greater good of the country.

Let’s rest all our cases and let the law take its own course and show Papua New Guinea really does believe in the rule of law.