Sepik MP urges Marape not to ‘pass the buck’

THE pressure is increasing for Prime Minister James Marape to take responsibility for last week’s mayhem and not to “pass the buck”.
East Sepik Governor Alan Bird said Government must not punish police for the burning and looting in Port Moresby but take responsibility.
“We can’t punish police for the looting and burning, the Government is totally responsible for what happened. You can’t just pass the buck, we’ve got to take responsibility for that.
“What happened last Wednesday is a stain on our history, a stain on all of us who are members of Parliament, and it’s a stain on all of us who for many years failed to deal with the underlying issues in our country.”
Morobe Governor Luther Wenge was more direct the previous day.
A change in leadership will restore confidence in Government, Wenge said, and called for Marape to put the job on the table.
Wenge called on Pangu Party’s executive to convene a meeting for the party’s Political wing.
“The Prime Minister James Marape must put the leadership of the Pangu Party on the table and let members of the party decide,” he said.
“He must put the leadership on the table and if he gets the majority vote then fair enough. If he doesn’t get the majority votes then a new leader must be appointed.”
“Let me make it also clear, I am not going anywhere, I am Pangu Party, but it’s time for a change in leadership,” Wenge said.
Governor Bird said the lack of employment and increases in living costs had contributed to the buildup of frustrations that led to the riots last week which saw many lives lost, women raped and businesses destroyed.
Bird said: “At the end of the day, our country is run in such a way that the ministers are responsible for where the country actually goes, and whilst the Prime Minister is not directly responsible, in a lot of ways he should bite the bullet and a lot of his ministers need a wakeup call. And if they didn’t get that on Wednesday then I don’t know what’s going to wake them up from their deep slumber.
“So, if I’m to blame the Prime Minister, then it’s not just him, but all the ministers and I guess those of us who are in Government. I would blame us for being slow. I would blame us for being incompetent.
“And I would blame us all for being really lazy, in dealing with these issues. And, we’re guilty of that.”
Bird said if he was prime minister, he would fix the immediate problems.
“I would go about seriously looking at how to create jobs for our people. Our people need work so that they can earn money and look after themselves.
“We’ve got to look at the rising cost of living. We’ve got to look at all these things.
“We can’t just, wave it off. And we can’t just punish a few policemen. The reaction of the policemen was, in response to everything. We need change,” he said.