By JOHN FOWKE
 |
| John Fowke |
The citizens of
Australia, like those of all free, progressive democratic nations hold as their
first and second most-dear possessions their families and their homes and real
property.
The great issues of tax, trade, foreign
affairs and defence are generally regarded without question as the province of
the Federal Government, but ordinary
people are quick to stand up and speak on
issues affecting their daily lives, their households, health and their children’s’
welfare, and their investments.
There is nothing more destabilising and
aggravating than unauthorised changes to laws and autocratic and, worse,
corrupt decisions by a government.
In most democracies,
the primary level of government provides both a forum and conduit for complaint
or adjustment or suggested improvement.
This means the state
or province, the town or rural local government institutions which protect
citizens’ most prized assets – homes,
businesses, power, water and sewerage, schools and hospitals, law and order-
these institutions are the forums most accessible and most responsive to the
expressions of John and Joan Citizen.
These institutions are basic to a settled,
productive and satisfied society.
This goes back to tribal times when no matter
how impoverished and how low down in the tribal pecking order one was, there
was always a right to stand forth in front of one’s clansmen and women and be
listened to when there was general concern or a worry present in the community.
Such a system was
formalised, for instance, amongst the Scandinavian raiders who conquered and
settled large areas of England, Scotland and Ireland 1,400 years ago.
The tribal court was
called the Witan, and here disputes and offences by tribesmen were settled
according to custom.
This ancient, basic right has been eroded in
PNG to the stage where it is now almost non-existent.
Citizens feel a
sense of powerlessness.
This is because
traditional leadership which today is represented by the LLG Councillor and his
Local Level Government have been neutralised as a force in politics.
This has been done
simply and deliberately by cutting out the financial support necessary for LLGs
to function other than in a ceremonial, flag-raising manner.
By starving the LLGs of funds over a
decades-long period the party system has intentionally connived to emasculate
them; has rendered them without influence or effect in any real sense,
especially in the provision of effective local communal leadership and
representation.
This situation may
be reversed- not without difficulty- by turning the LLGs into
communally-aligned “quality control units” rather than physical
service-providers with tip-trucks and bridge-carpenters and so-on.
LLGs should become
communal quality-controllers, criticising and bringing to provincial and Waigani-based
authorities’ attention all and any deficiencies in the function of
service-providing departments and government agencies.
This to be done through MPs whose loyalty is
tied by agreement to the LLGs in each electorate.
This will be
resisted strongly by the political class and aspirants to this status because
it cuts out the “parties”- the running sores within the PNG polity, source of
personal advantage and enrichment of MPs.
An egalitarian
society like PNG never needed”parties” as such.
The basis of all
needs and identity in PNG is clan membership, home region, "ples matmat
bilong tumbuna”; not occupational status, caste, or levels of wealth.
It was surprising
and pleasing to see the union movement come together on the “2 PM’s “ issue
recently; for a moment there was a flicker of trans-tribal unity on a political
issue.
Evidence that a
“workers party” could be a reality one day, instead of a mere shield covering
the activities in Port Moresby of MPs and their associates.
An opaque ceiling, in
effect, imposed between advantaged ”us” and “ them”, the electorate, kept
downstairs in the dark.
That which has been
suggested here may be accomplished legally, constitutionally, if a large enough
number of LLGs can be persuaded to choose a preferred candidate within their
electorate- (even though in some cases electorates and LLG districts overlap
this is not an insurmountable barrier) - and then oblige the chosen one to sign
an agreement tying his whole attention and all funding he is able to extract to
the issues nominated by resolution of the LLGs in duly-managed-and -minuted
session.
Very briefly, this
is what I have been advocating as a remedy for today’s travesty where PNG, a
self-declared and wealthy democracy is actually a corrupt hegemony managed for
their own benefit by the makeshift mechanism of “parties” which have absolutely
no meaning, nor meaningful manifestos, as far as ordinary people are concerned.
