Namah: Keeping tab on PM performance

 OPPOSITION Leader Belden Namah says keeping tabs on how Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is managing the country is far more important than fighting over his own position.

He was responding to the move by Kandep MP and Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party leader Don Polye to join the Opposition. 

There has been speculation that Polye is vying to take over from Namah as Opposition Leader because he claims to have more MPs from his party in the House.  

“With respect to what Don Polye and his officers have been saying in the media, I have no comment on that,” Namah told reporters in Port Moresby.

He said the more important issue was about O’Neill’s performance as Prime Minister.

“It’s not about who is the Opposition Leader. When I was fighting from the Opposition with my deputy Sam Basil and Dr Allan Marat, my partner Don Polye was a State minister. They were sitting on the other side and laughing at us.

“He’s saying that if he comes, he will bring in more numbers and make the Opposition more vibrant.Good luck (to that).”

“So really for me, the Opposition Leader’s position is not an issue.The issue here is Peter O’Neill running the country as the Prime Minister.”

Namah called a media conference to respond to O’Neill’s criticism of the Ombudsman Commission for not investigating Namah’s claim that he had spent K50 million during the 2012 general election.

Namah said the K50 million was not public money but his own. He blamed O’Neill for directly attacking the commission.

An official in the PM’s office said it was obvious from Namah’s media conference that he did not want to account for the funds he publicly stated to have spent on candidates.