Sir Michael stands by mutiny leader

Main Stories, National
Source:

The National, Tuesday 31st January 2012

THE Somare camp will stand firm behind the appointment of Col Yaura Sasa as the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
Defence minister in the (Sir Michael) Somare camp Andrew Kumbakor said: “We should not be quick to accept that mutiny took place last week at Murray Barracks. There is a lot at stake here and I know that we are a tribal people that have always had an instinct for danger. We also have an innate sense of what is right and wrong.
“Papua New Guinea knows Michael Somare from the beginning. What we do not know is where Peter O’Neill, Belden Namah or many of the people in the regime came from.
“Knowing who we have been dealing with, it is deplorable to suggest that the Somare government would stage a coup or be responsible for mutiny in the army. Somare is the architect of many of the institutions that are set up today in our country.
“Last year he submitted to the Ombudsman Commission and went before a tribunal.
“In his 43 years of politics he has never manoeuvered outside of the law to retain control of power in this country.”
Kumbakor maintains that the Somare government is the legitimate PNG government.
“We gave Sir Michael the mandate to be prime minister in 2002 and again in 2007. The Supreme Court upheld this fact on Dec 12 and rendered O’Neill’s reign as illegitimate.”
Kumbakor said the Somare government was responsible for the stability, growth and prosperity which PNG enjoyed during the past nine years.
“Through this period of stability we have been able to encourage growth in industry, meaning more people are employed and can afford basic services,” he said.
“Let’s not be hoodwinked by a fly-by-night regime that purports to solve PNG’s problems in a matter of months. We, the Somare government, built the basis upon which the O’Neill regime is able to throw around and squander money just before the election.
“I call on members of the disciplined forces to exercise restraint at all times and to ensure public safety is not compromised.
“Upholding the constitution and the law is the only way that PNG will avert a crisis.”