‘The matters are unrelated’

PORT MORESBY – Papua New Guinea’s chief secretary has formally requested the dismissal of a chief magistrate for misconduct, leading to opposition claims it has weakened the nation’s democracy.

Nerrie Eliakim is the head of the District Court which issued a warrant for prime minister Peter O’Neill’s arrest last year.

The government has denied the move to suspend Eliakim, forwarded to the attorney-general, was part of a plan to protect O’Neill from arrest by anti-corruption police.

The government’s chief secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc, said the move was sparked by complaints about Eliakim and “has nothing to do with the prime minister or the events that are unfolding with him”.

“It just so happened that this referral has occurred at this unfortunate time, coinciding with the unfolding of events that are currently before the courts.”

The request will be considered by Papua New Guinea’s Judicial and Legal Services Commission.

However, opposition leader Don Polye said the dismissal of the magistrate was part of a wider plan to stop corruption allegations against O’Neill.

“It is very vindictive and not isolated because the decision he has made is to protect his position as prime minister at the suffering of democracy – at the erosion of checks and balances in Papua New Guinea,” he said.

The District Court issued a warrant in 2014 for fraud squad police from PNG’s anti-corruption Taskforce Sweep to arrest O’Neill.

The taskforce was subsequently disbanded, the police commissioner replaced and two senior investigators sacked. But fraud squad officers are continuing to pursue the allegations in PNG’s courts.

The request to suspend the chief magistrate follows the banning of two Australian lawyers, Greg Egan and Terry Lambert, from travelling to PNG to represent the fraud squad police in their court cases against senior government figures.

The government has previously said the matters are unrelated.

The chairman of Transparency International PNG, Lawrence Stephens, said the general public believed these moves were all connected to the corruption cases.

“We’re concerned from reports, from stories being spread, that there is a connection between the administrative decisions reported and current investigations,” he said.

“This is of concern to everybody.”

Stephens said it was not too late for the O’Neill government to address the problems and allow legal processes to be resolved.

“It is a concern that the arms of government are not respecting each other. It is a concern when elected leaders are testing the limits of their legal possibilities,” he said.

“But it’s a concern we believe is able to be sorted out.”