Polye must make his stand clear

 AT another time and under a different set of circumstances, the political developments beginning with the sacking of Kandep MP and THE Party founder and leader Don Polye would have triggered the unmaking of this coalition government.

However, the O’Neill Gov­­­ernment is seemingly in­tact and what power play is going on seems to be merely a reshuffling and shifting from within, with no real threats from without.

The power play, has however, produced one major casualty in Polye, who is one of a few parliamentarians who have suffered political misfortunes.  

Years ago, he was, for a time, a very promising deputy of founding Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare’s National Alliance Party. Moving on from the National Alliance Party, Polye struck out on his own to form what turned out to be quite a successful political grouping that returned the second highest number of winning candidates from the 2012 General Election.  

Teaming up with Peter O’Neill’s People’s National Congress and other minor parties, they formed the government.  

The member parties are signatories to the Alotau Accord, which serves as a blueprint and guide for the coalition.

The fact that Polye had allowed one of his senior party members, East New Britain Regional MP Leo Dion, to take the deputy prime minister’s job was commendable and demonstrated the party leader’s political maturity. However, a few weeks ago, Polye got the sack when, as the then Treasurer, he had refused to sign the UBS loan to buy the State’s shareholding in Oil Search.

Polye’s sacking has obviously caused confusion and uncertainty within his party. 

Four members of the party, three of them ministers, have resigned, although technicality that might not be that simple.  

The four were forced to leave when they found themselves in an uncomfortable situation where their party leader was openly attacking the prime minister for a decision of a collective cabinet, excepting  apparently a single dissension – that of Polye himself. 

The survival of THE Party as a cohesive party in the coalition is now being seriously threatened. 

That is something people like Registrar of Political Par­ties Dr Alphonse Gelu would not want to see happening.  

Gelu told Polye in a letter in early March: “To disintegrate at this stage is something I don’t envisage for your party. 

“It is therefore at this point that I suggest that you call an urgent meeting with your party members in Parliament and sort out the issue of leadership, most preferably handing the leadership to one of your party members who is in Cabinet or to make it more democratic and allow for nominations and let the members to elect a new leader.”

It is apparent from this week’s resignations of four members of the parliamentary caucus, including three Cabinet ministers, that Polye may have waited too long. 

The resignations of the three ministers is a likely breach of the Alotau Accord THE Party had signed along with member parties of the ruling coalition, unless they relinquish their ministries, which have been allocated to THE Party and not them personally. 

They were allocated ministerial portfolios as members of a coalition party mee­­ting a certain quote as dictated by the Alotau Accord.  

The three Cabinet members cannot remain ministers while remaining simply as resigned or former members of THE Party.  

They need to reveal which party or parties in government they are joining in order to remain ministers.

Technically, they are still with THE Party because its council has yet to accept or reject their resignations.

To save the party he for­med and led with remarkable success into the last election, it is now incumbent on Polye to make his move and make it known to his party members in government.

As Gelu has said, rather than let the party disintegrate, it should be made to remain strong and enter the 2017 elections a stronger force.  

For that to happen Polye, the parliamentary caucus and executive of THE Party will have to quickly resolve the issue of party leadership.

Polye cannot remain party leader from across the floor of Parliament. 

That was the predicament forcing the four members of the party to resign this week.