Government suspends budget debate

THE government has suspended a debate on the national budget by a week, amid opposition claims it is playing political games ahead
of the Supreme Court decision on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s election.
Treasurer Don Polye told AAP the debate had been put off until next Tuesday to allow the
opposition a week to prepare their budget reply.
But former attorney-general Sir Arnold Amet said the government was playing games ahead of tomorrow’s much anticipated court decision.
He said the government had the numbers to vote now.
“After Friday, we expect both sides to deal with the budget,” he told reporters yesterday.
“This is irresponsible. They should pass the budget.”
Polye introduced the budget on Tuesday – two weeks after it was first due.
The K10.5 billion budget was the nation’s biggest since PNG gained independence from Australia in 1975.
In PNG, it is traditional to give around a week for budget debate, opposition reply and the vote to pass it.
Most of PNG’s opposition are made up of members of the Somare government which was ousted in early August during a parliamentary vote, installing O’Neill as prime minister with a coalition of 74 MPs out of 109.
Somare loyalists refuse to acknowledge the government, instead referring to it as the “purported government” or “the regime”.
Speaker Jeffery Nape in turn refuses to acknowledge them, and so did not ask the opposition if they wanted to speak on the budget
on Tuesday.
O’Neill’s election has been challenged in the courts, tomorrow’s decision could lead to a return of Sir Michael Somare as prime minister, although most analysts concede the unprecedented court challenge makes predicting the decision of the five-man bench almost impossible. – AAP