Tuesday’s protest raises hard questions

PAPUA New Guinea is a thriving democracy.
This year, citizens of this country celebrated 43 years of political independence that was achieved without blood or tears.
In the ensuing years, PNG has faced many challenges of nation-building and survived several major political crises that have threatened its democratic system of government.
In the eyes of the world, we have had a pretty good run without the kind of political, social and economic upheavals that have beset and ruined many nations in the recent past.
PNG may be the envy of many developing countries, whose citizen’s dream of democratic rights such as freedom of speech, but the country faces other serious issues that threaten to dismantle its democratic processes and institutions. These include corruption and other law and order issues that have the potential to cause collateral damage to our
system of government and the economy.
Law and order issues have been a thorn in the side of successive governments since independence and the current government has moved quickly to address them, including enacting tougher laws and penalties for serious crime.
Despite these commendable initiatives, law and order issues continue to seriously affect government processes, business operations and community activities throughout the country.
Just like Tuesday’s protest by disgruntled members of the Joint Security Task Force at Parliament House.
Parliament House is an iconic building in the country and a building that we can all be very proud of.
Decisions relating to the running of the country are made by the elected Members of Parliament in the House.
The incident was destructive and became tangled up in the reporting and public perception in the aftermath of the recently concluded Apec Leaders’ Summit.
Someone has to be held accountable for that.
The officers were not happy with the response to their concerns regarding their allowance.
We are not privy to their allowance details, but there seems to be a miscommunication, hence the standoff.
Twelve days earlier, motorcade officers were told their allowance would be paid directly to their bank account.
Obviously it was not done.
The idea that maintaining order and peace, and a balanced State, in society is somehow the public service’s responsibility is not only regressive but detrimental to progress.
Many people will agree that Papua New Guineans are becoming their own worst enemies.
Beneath the political speechmaking of ‘unity in diversity’, this so-called ‘land of the unexpected’ is likely to remain fragmented and chaotic unless our citizens change their mindsets.
When it comes to development, one size doesn’t fit all. It is about mindsets that can be transformed to see and do things differently.
We must develop great minds of people who can challenge the wrongs and create a solution path.
It is an uphill battle but it is not a dilemma experienced in PNG only.
In many instances, the societies that have made headway in achieving peaceful, progressive and harmonious existence are those that have strong and effective policing and a sound, fair justice system.
Amicable and long-term preventive measures are needed to fully eliminate a repeat of Tuesday.
Strengthening the system is the means to this end while the question remains: Can the people at the top stay the course.