Temu: New system needed

 THE country needs a bicameral system of government and full autonomy should be given to the provinces, Public Service Minister Sir Puka Temu said last Friday in parliament.

He said that the 9th parliament should look at laws that would create a bicameral system where there were upper and lower houses so bills were debated properly and went through a transparent system.

He said the restructure should look at creating 20 senators of the house.

He said some of the laws made in the past such as Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates were challenged because they were not debated properly.

He said this kind of structure would help important issues and proposed laws to be debated and passed so they were not rushed.

He added that in order to grow the country, the parliament should give full autonomy to the provinces so that the governors and their provincial assemblies could generate their own funds.

“We must give autonomy to the provinces and we must fund them. We must allow them to rise, we must not be afraid to empower them and we must not fear the future,” he said.

Sir Puka said it was about time the country created such restructures to realise a dream that it had that “one day the world powers like the United Nations will declare PNG as the richest black nation”.

Sir Puka also said that it was about time the vote of no confidence is done away with as it brings instability.

“It’s time to look at the laws that govern votes of no confidence as we got to do away with votes of no confidences,” he said.

“We should promote party system and the party policy system. The time of lobby and camping is over. People should vote on party policies and the party that wins automatically takes the prime minister.”