Wenge takes a swipe at Nape

By GABRIEL LAHOC
SPEAKER Jeffrey Nape has been accused of being a major contributor to the worsening constitutional crisis in the country.
Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, who is behind the move to challenge the validity of the recently-approved judicial conduct law, also said Nape was acting on poor legal advice.
He was reacting to Nape’s statement in parliament on Wednesday that Wenge would be prosecuted for using a gazette as part of his affidavits in the Supreme Court case.
“Nape’s call to prosecute me is totally wrong under the law because all the motions in parliament, bills and acts and printed Hansard are public property,” Wenge said.
“I, as a member of parliament, am entitled to a copy. Nape or his advisers cannot say I am not entitled. It is wrong.

“Nape’s position is completely wrong and his lawyers are incompetent. He is acting on poor legal advice. Nape has more trouble than I have.”
He said the Morobe provincial government decided to challenge the new law in court and it was entitled to use those public documents.
Wenge said the Parliamentary Powers & Privileges Act did not apply because his affidavits in court contained a certified document signed by Nape himself.
He said what many Papua New Guineans did not know was that parliament last week passed the Judicial Conduct Act while the speaker gazetted a Judicial Control Act, which were “completely different documents”.
Nape yesterday admitted there was a mistake in the printing of the document.
But Wenge rejected that, saying it was not a printing error because there was “substantial modification on that document which Nape went ahead to certify”.
“The police and the parliamentary privileges committee will find him wrong.”