Wingti tells MPs to respect office of PM

WESTERN Highlands Governor Pais Wingti told Parliament yesterday to respect the office of the prime minister.
Wingti said MPs should know the difference between the Office of the Prime Minister and the person who was elected to be the prime minister.
He said the things that were done in Parliament were not done right and ethically, and those processes and protocols were not followed as they should have been.
“Those of us MPs must know the difference between the Office of the Prime Minister and Peter O’Neill as a person and that difference must be established to whoever is the prime minister and it is our responsibility to respect that office.
“I have been around and have seen things which are not right, in the process we are also destroying our own country, we are sealing and doing things that are not protocol, not ethical and not right,” the former prime minister said.
He said the difference should be drawn as this was a young country. Whoever the next PM will be, there should still be respect for the Office of the Prime Minister.
“We come from a tradition where we respect our people, and the Office of the Prime Minister is the office of the people of this country.”
Wingti acknowledged the work of O’Neill for the past seven years as the prime minister of PNG.
He said the O’Neill government could not do everything “as no government was perfect, but in those seven years as PM, the districts have seen change and I salute O’Neill for his work.”
He encouraged the support of all MPs for the next prime minister, and for them to work together to make sure the country was stable and good things happened.