PM Marape doing well

JAMES Marape rose to be Prime Minister at the back of popular demand that after eight years at helm, Peter O’Neill was leading the country into the wrong direction where foreign interest, greed and corruption where cabinet processes were merely used to sanction pre-cooked schemes for the benefit of the ruling class.
While many other politicians contested in the mad rush to be PM, the Tari Pori MP (whose resignation as O’Neill’s finance minister triggered the collapse of the once mighty O’Neill government), was voted in as PM by a huge 101 to 8 votes.
And Marape raised the expectations of the nation with his mantra ‘making PNG the richest black Christian nation’, and he promised that no one, irrespective of gender, tribe, region, qualification etc, will be left behind, and that he will fight for greater benefits from natural resources for PNG including landowners.
One thing we have seen so far from PMJM is that he has stood his grounds in as far as facing global multinationals as the Barrick, Total, Exxon and Oil Search.
He (PMJM) is so far sticking to his motto in not succumbing to foreign interest, greed and money and give away project agreements that does not win much for Papua New Guinea.
This is a breath of fresh air, if only prime ministers and leaders before Marape’s generation; (those who signed, Panguna in the 1970s, Ok Tedi and Porgera in the 1980s, signed Lihir, Simberi, Misima, Ramu Nickel, Kutubu, Gobe and Moran oil fields in the 1990s, or those who led and signed PNG and Papua LNGs in the 2000s), could have done likewise then O’Neill would not have borrowed the K37 billion.
While I do not agree with everything PMJM or his government is doing, especially his ministers, I must give credit where it is due.
I see a national leader, who for the first time since 1975, is willing to burn his political capital to gain more for the country from our natural resources.
My appeal to first term members of parliament, is for you not to be caught in the political games, the so called big boys of Waigani play.
For they play politics with lust for money in partnership with foreign timber, fishing, mining, oil and gas companies, and this toxicity is the reason why our country has not progressed much.
While the country is facing the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, we run the risk of forgoing better gain from our resources and I can sense the industries and foreign lobby groups gathering behind few old politicians to remove Marape. Don’t go back to the dirt of the past, but carve a good clean future for our country.
We are watching you all, least you politicians think we aren’t.
I have written you this to show that the national hope and zeal Marape has infused into young generation of Papua New Guineans is real and his words and spirit will live on long after PMJM is gone.

Nason Mul Solo,
Pom