PNG: Nations’ future ‘hangs in the balance’

Papua New Guinea’s future as a functioning democracy hangs in the balance, according to suspended Papua New Guinea assistant police commissioner Thomas Eluh.

“Please let me inform the people of Papua New Guinea that this is not about my ambition for position and power,” Eluh said in an interview with the Post-Courier newspaper.

“If either myself, former Commissioner Sir Toami Kulunga or former Deputy Police Commissioner Simon Kauba were hungry for power and position one of us would be the current commissioner and the prime minister would not have been invited in for the interview.

Papua New Guinea’s top police officers were suspended for their stand on the issue of the warrant of arrest put out for the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

They were suspended on grounds that they were compromised politically.

“We invited the prime minister to come in for the interview and we lost our jobs,” Eluh said.

“We are honest, committed career professional law enforcement officers and our actions will be justified and vindicated in a court of law, not in the media or over the internet.

“Everyone must realise that this is no longer a case of the prime minister being guilty or innocent. It is not about being right or wrong. That is for the court to say.

“This is about whether Prime Minister O’Neill, the chief executive officer of Papua New Guinea, respects the laws of our country and more importantly, whether he will subject himself to the same law, regardless of how high and mighty he thinks he is,” he said.

Eluh said the world is watching with grave concern.

“And as the prime minister himself so correctly stated, this is denting investor confidence. But not for the reasons he stated. And contrary to what he has stated, there is no political crisis.

“The issue here is simple – and that is one man manipulating the government as well as the instruments of state, especially police, to not subject himself to the law and due process.

“The message he is sending to foreign investors and citizens alike is that there is no rule of law and that their investment and lives are not safe.”

Eluh said he was not sensationalising matters when he said that the country’s future as an independent functioning democracy hangs in the balance because of “one man’s refusal to submit himself to the rule of law”.

“There is a saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Absolute power also makes people arrogant and blind to the implications of their actions and inactions.

“As I have said in a previous statement, the police service has gone to the dogs. Where are the commissioned officers? Where is the police union?

“Is there anyone else out there who has the courage and the heart to do what is right for the country or are we going to allow our country to be thrown into a state of lawlessness by one man’s stubbornness?

“These are actions of a man who not only is irrational but one whose sense of balance, justice and fairness is now highly questionable. These are actions of a man who has compromised everything that he stood for,” Eluh said earlier.

“I stand committed in my fight for the rule of law to stand supreme – it is only through this that we enjoy our peace, freedom and well-being,” the suspended assistant police commissioner said.