Timing not right for a protest march

THE National would normally defend free speech and the rights of any group to freely assemble, to discuss issues and concerns including putting those issues via peaceful means to their leaders.
We cannot, however, support today’s protest march which is purported to be supported by non-governmental organisations and civil society coalition partners.
The announcement that there will be a protest march is signed by only one person, the author of the full-page announcement, Noel Anjo Kolao.
It would be good to know exactly who these NGOs and CSOs are. They should lend their names to the advertisement rather than hide behind this one person.
Might this one person be the same person who engineered the protest march of May 12 last year in Port Moresby which turned out into an all-out violent uprising directed against Asians and Asian-owned businesses in Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Kainantu, Goroka, Mt Hagen and Vanimo?
It took three weeks to put down the uprising and, then, only after hundreds of thousands of kina worth in damage to property had been caused.
A parliamentary committee report into the uprising is yet to be furnished to parliament.
A repeat of that uprising must be avoided at all costs and it is this point that makes us think that today’s planned protest march is ill-timed.
It is timed to coincide with the sitting of parliament at which, for the first time in eight years, the ugly specter of a motion of no-confidence once again hangs over the hausman like an ominous dark cloud.
At the same time, there would appear to be a very confusing circumstance where the position of the governor-general, at this time, is unfilled as the incumbent has not been sworn in and, it appeared yesterday, as if the speaker is unwilling to perform the task.
There could be a constitutional question in the offing that would add to the confusion.
A protest march would only ignite emotions which are already running high on each side of the political divide and, since ordinary people will be involved, such emotions might spill out onto the streets.
Make no mistake. Papua New Guineans are a very politically conscious people. They are not all on one side and, so, any protest march could very easily turn nasty and even bloody.
It would also appear that the timing of the protest march makes it appear as if there is some politics or politicians behind this march, rather than it being a march that is orchestrated out of the goodness of the heart by NGOs and civil society.
Certainly, the list of points that Anjo raised in his advertisement are of concern to many Papua New Guineans.
They are issues that have been raised time and again in the media, in public forums and, indeed, in earlier protest marches such as the peaceful march against the Maladina amendments.
They are issues that we would like to see presented to our political leadership, but not at this time when the emotions that these issues stir up in the hearts of the common men might be mixed with the political emotions which are running high at the moment.
They are a potent mix and may easily turn into something uncontrollable.
There would be many, including Anjo himself, who will say that the issues that are being pushed by the people through this protest march are the very same issues pursued in parliament.
We agree and state that parliament is the rightful place where these issues must be trashed out and, that, if our politicians have now taken ownership of these issues, then there is no need for a protest march.
A protest march is necessary when leaders seemed or are blind to certain issues which the people must march to present to them. In this case, they might not be.
It would appear that Anjo may want some political mileage out of this, who for, we can only guess at present, but we are sure we know.
We concur with Police Commissioner Gari Baki that there must be no protest march today.
Baki said requests would normally come to a committee, which determines whether or not a march would go ahead, and that this had not occurred. That is added reason why this protest should not be entertained today.