By JEFFREY ELAPA
MEMBER for Kandep Don Polye said the National Alliance party caucus meeting in Goroka this week was not about fighting over the leadership but to comply with the party constitution, The National reports.
He said it was important that the party's constitution was upheld.
Polye said a deliberate breach of the constitution happened last week when the parliamentary wing of the party decided to elect Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal as the NA deputy highlands leader.
Polye said he was given a 30-day notice on July 4 as the deputy leader to call a meeting. However, he said the 30-day notice was to have expired on Aug 4. Therefore, he was calling the meeting this week in compliance with the constitution.
"All NA parliamentary members, executives, ordinary members and the administrators are obliged to follow the party laws.
"I do not condone the breaching of any laws including the national constitution as well as the party constitution. To break them means destroying democracy and good governance," he said.
He said there had been a disregard for the party's constitution and required that a meeting be called for members of the NA party to correct the wrong.
"I do not see any reason why the MPs should not attend. I am not calling them to vote for me," he said.
Meanwhile, Lands Minister Lucas Dekena said a meeting held between some of the members yesterday decided that because most of them would not make it to Goroka, the meeting this week should be postponed to allow everyone to attend.
He said many of them had not been aware of the Goroka meeting until they read about it in The National yesterday.
He said the acting prime minister would be attending a funeral at home and other members of parliament were away overseas.
However, a media statement from the prime minister's office yesterday claimed that the NA highlands leaders had confirmed their decision last week to appoint Abal as their deputy leader.
The statement named five MPs who asserted to the change in leadership in Port Moresby yesterday. They included Sani Rambi, Dekena, Benjamin Mul, Miki Kaeok and Abal.
Speaking from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Governor Tom Olga said the leaders were standing by their decision last Wednesday.
When contacted yesterday, Mul said he did not want to be dragged into the issue and suggested that it was a matter for Abal and Polye to settle
No comments:
Post a Comment