O’Neill Govt must serve its full term

 ALLOW me to express my views on the present debate about  the claims of a vote of no confidence against the O’Neill Government.

I must say The National newspaper editorial yesterday (Oct 19) titled “Motion of no confidence premature” hit the nail on the head. 

All thinking Papua New Guineans should take heed. 

It is high time we take a step back and look at our political history and question the real motives of members of the alternate government for engineering votes of no confidence since 1980. 

Have we achieved much in Opposition figures changing the people’s mandated governments through no confidence since 1980? Think about it today.

There is no real reason behind attempts to overthrow a legitimate government that is functioning and performing well above expectations and outperforming any other government in history in a short space of time. 

It is only the few blinded by their hunger for power will not see the developments taking place.

For example, the recent past government sat on the 2015 Pacific Games preparation. No funds were allocated for the preparations until the O’Neill Government came in and pumped in money and delivered world class facilities and staged record-breaking Pacific Games. 

That is no fluke undertaking, my country men and women. 

Let us open our eyes and see where those who used institutions of state like the Task Force Sweep to prosecute the Prime Minister have come from.

Is their determined use of Task Force Sweep really in the best interests of the country?

The current Prime Minister will have his day in court but not through the dogged urging of those blind with their thirst for power and using the legitimate entities like the Task Force Sweep, the Magisterial Service and the Ombudsman Commission to get what they want – overthrow a performing government in decades.

I challenge all thinking Papua New Guineans to take a long hard look at how our political system and institutions of state have been manipulated by government detractors and question the real motives of the characters hiding behind the so-called Opposition of alternate government to call for a change in government. 

We have heard this before. We have heard this since 1980 when the first vote of no confidence took place.

We have heard the rubbishing of legitimately mandated governments and demonising of men holding positions of the Prime Minister in the past.

All past governments have been rubbished and prime ministers demonised by the so-called Oppositions and fellow political opportunists.

Former prime ministers like Sir Michael Somare and Paias Wingti know the pains of being overthrown.

Look at the record of those in the Opposition who got into government in a vote of no confidence or after a national election. 

Can we see a trend going back to the first vote of no confidence in 1980? What change for the better will we see when those crying foul now get into government? 

It is time we demand that a government serve its full time and not be disturbed by a power-hungry few. 

We the citizens have the power to determine the fate of the current government in 2017 not because Don Polye thinks so now.

John Rob

Goroka