Polye must bide his time for top post

 I REFER to the letters in The National (Dec 22) – “Polye loyal to the end” by “JJ” and “Congrats, Abal” by Philip Nere of Wabag.

Many people have written about the promotion of Sam Abal at the expense of Don Polye.

To me, Polye is a born leader and has the charisma but he lacks calculated political strategies. 

I was impressed by his performance when he entered parliament in 2002. 

He has since worn many caps including the deputy leader of National Alliance representing the highlands, held the works, transport and civil aviation and deputy prime minister portfolios.

He became the higher education minister when he was tasked by the PM to solve the crisis in the University of Goroka and Unitech where he did well. 

As a civil engineer by training, Polye knows the importance of making objective statements where he qualifies and quantifies his statements with statistical evidence. 

While he has all the attributes of a up-and-coming leader, for one reason or another, Polye shot himself on his own foot when he embarked on a miscalculated political strategy that cost him his deputy prime minister’s post.

Polye told the nation that he would support Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

Then all of a sudden in August this year, during the Laiagam show, he said he was ready to become the PM and that statement proved to be costly for not long after that, he was removed as deputy prime minister.

Why did he tell the people of Laiagam that he was ready to be the PM? 

Who is going to vote him to be one anyway? 

PNG is not like the US where the people vote directly for their leader.

Little did he know the implication of his statement.

This was an insult to his boss.

Abal, on the other hand, is a son of one of the founding fathers of PNG, Sir Tei Abal, PNG’s first opposition leader. 

He is humble, wise and a faithful leader. 

Many people call him a pastor because he openly speaks about this Christian faith. 

He is a God-fearing leader and God, through Sir Michael, has put him in charge,

Polye needs to learn from his mistakes and make necessary adjustments in his political game.

Mamando Pain

Laiagam