Threats rejected

THE national security advisory committee is expected to invoke two legislations today giving police the power to arrest anyone inciting civil disobedience and a stop-work intended to cripple essential public services.
Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari  (pictured) told The National that the committee was expected to invoke the Internal Security Act and the Essential Services Act to deal with people advocating violence, disruption of public services and destruction to public property.
He was responding to a statement issued on Sunday by lawyer Moses Murray and pilot James Makop calling on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to resign by midnight tonight.
If he fails to do that, they threatened that civil disobedience and a nationwide stop-work would begin tomorrow in the aviation, maritime, telecommunication and transport sectors in Port Moresby, Lae and Mt Hagen.
Lupari said police would be given the power to arrest and prosecute people “who are frequently doing these kinds of things – sending messages to the public, inciting people to take the law into their own hands”.
“The national security advisory committee will look at those two particular acts, or any other act of parliament, that will empower police to arrest and prosecute these kinds of people,” he said.
“People must understand that they can’t take the law into their own hands. If they have a political issue, the proper forum is Parliament.
“Or if they disagree so much about how the Government is running the country, the only way to change the Government is on the floor of Parliament or in next year’s election – another six months to go.
“Those people who are now going around and talking about political agenda must know that they have no right to impinge on the freedom and liberties of other people.
“It’s unlawful and people should not go around telling people not to go to school, close shops.”
He said leaders must educate young people on “what is right and what is wrong”.
“But so-called leaders who are forever advocating and inciting violence must know that they are teaching young people to do the wrong thing in this country,” he said.
“We must put an end to this. We can’t have union leaders, we can’t have landowners, we can’t have so-called busy-bodies like Moses Murray and all these people, and we can’t have politicians who continue to advocate violence, advocate destruction of public services, destruction of public property in this country.
“I am now warning these people that enough is enough. This country belongs to eight million people.
“It has now come to the stage where we need to look at all the laws to stop and mitigate this practice.”