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Friday, May 07, 2010

Maladina petition a fact not lightly dismissed

From PAUL OATES

While the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister and his supporters apparently skulked in their caucus meeting, the Opposition Leader and four Morobe politicians accepted the petition of 20,000 signatures requesting the withdrawal of the Mandalina Amendment.
According to Opposition Leader Morauta, Parliamentary standing orders currently prevent the tabling of this petition as the matter is currently before parliament and has been deferred for further consultations.
However, surely the issue of whether the petition is tabled or not is totally irrelevant? That fact is that the petition exists and is a very public expression of the will of many PNG people on the matter.
The large public demonstration and the petition are facts the PNG government and Parliament cannot overlook. For anyone to ignore this significant milestone in PNG democracy and political history would be very unwise.
A line has been drawn in the sand and the people who drew it are now watching.

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