Many commentators have sought to categorize me in one political camp or another. I notice that is the full time occupation of many. It is a sign of the extent to which we have allowed ourselves, the general community and our government institutions to be politicized. That is a very sad indictment on this nation because we have not allowed for people to hold individual views that may be valid and correct in themselves. We have not allowed people to act independently. We have not allowed institutions to be free from the corrupted influence of Politics. We have not allowed the possibility that amongst us, in these very communities, there are individuals who would not allow themselves to be swayed by the corrupted winds of politics, who will assert themselves from a middle ground, seeking to live outside or above the contemporary politics of the day.
There are some institutions that the law does provide specifically ( Lawyers will correct me on this) but I believe the Judiciary of Papua New Guinea is constitutionally mandated to be independent of any politics, must discharge its functions without fear or favor. It is this independence that is so absolutely critical to our democracy and to justice. This quality of its independence is so absolutely important to engender faith by the ordinary citizen in the Judicial system, that his grievance will be addressed impartially, with a just result, a result he is prepared to accept and live with. That is the same level of faith we have in a K100 note. That if I take a 100 Kina note to the shop, I have faith that I can buy K100 worth of goods, and the or the correct change will be given. But if I know I cant be assured of that, or that the wrong change will be given, or that I will be forced at gun point to part with my money or goods and leave or accept any thing less than that, then what it the point of going to the shops at all?
We are at a point in our democracy where the O'Neill-Namah-Maladina government is at the verge of plunging this nation into chaos through destruction of the Judiciary. I have commented on this site on the illegitimacy of this government and I have provided reasons for that. The illegitimacy stems from the O'Neill-Namah governments non-compliance with the Supreme Court Orders of 12 December 2011. I have addressed the basis on which they appear to lay claim to legitimacy in a separate article. I have also said, their illegitimacy is begetting more illegitimacy and compounding the issues. I have seen pigs being tied to a post by their foreleg, and in a bid to escape it runs around in big circles until the rope gets shorter and shorter, and eventually, the pig has its legs in the air and lies there screaming. It came to the end of the road.
The O'Neill-Namah government is at the end of its road. It must stop now before it destroys the judiciary. It must quell the rise of testosterone within. It must control the nonsense that is running high. Commonsense and goodwill for this nation must prevail as leaders of a modern Melanesian country. We will judge this government not as a legitimate government, but for its quality of leadership of the individuals involved on what they do next, for they have failed all the other tests so far.
The purported suspension of the Chief Justice is a further contempt of court while the Supreme Court panel in which Chief Justice Injia is a member is seized of the contempt matters, and matters questioning the very legitimacy of the O'Neill-Namah government. The suspension was a unilateral move by the Executive government. The JLSC was reportedly not properly constituted. The Attorney General was in the country, when Moses Maladina purportedly was appointed Acting Attorney General. Whilst the Prime Minister has the power to appoint any Cabinet Minister or strip one of his executive powers and give it to another or himself, the Prime Minister cannot give two Ministers the same powers. If Attorney General Marat was sacked as Attorney General or was overseas, then Moses Maladina could validly exercise the Powers of the Attorney General. It would seem to me, on this point alone, the suspension is absolutely flawed.
The further ground of Natural Justice, of giving the Chief Justice the right to be heard by an impartial tribunal on the allegations was not fulfilled by the JLSC, and is extremely unlikely to be fulfilled due to the manner in which the Chairman of the JLSC is a purported Attorney General in a government, the legitimacy of which is an issue before the Supreme Court on which panel the the Chief justice presides.
We the public can see what the O'Neill-Namah-Maladina government is doing. Its the story of the pig. In seeking to win its freedom, it ends up tying itself up further, and has to lie down in the muddy slosh which is its own creation. It has a paid police and military force, it has a paid NGO groups and thugs on the streets, and it has a cadre of Lawyers paid millions to carry out this evil charade. Above all else....and I need a drum roll for this.....IT HAS THE POST COURIER & THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IN ITS POCKET!
Who can blame them for being so over confident, so confident enough to make such ridiculous allegations, and convening Kangaroo Courts in the dead of night for the fate of the Chief Justice? Summoning the Lord of Kanudi (who still hasn't cleaned the rubbish in his front yard-perhaps he has left it to his Consultant Partner and Constitutional commentator Peter Donigi to do it) to the rescue of his mates Chris Haiveta and Peter O'Neill, they have the government coffers to do anything they please.
The sum effect of all this is that the Supreme Court Stay orders on the suspension prevails. The Court will and must sit and determine all the proceedings before it. The bid to remove the Chief Justice must be stayed, so the public confidence in the Independence of the Judiciary must be upheld at this critical time of our democracy.
All those who want to open their mouths and make wild allegations against the Chief Justice must be warned that the man is innocent until those allegations are proved. What those allegations are, we don't know. There are proper procedures for dealing with this matter through the JLSC, and it appears the JLSC is already biased. The Chief Justice has not been accorded natural justice.
The timing of these allegations against the Chief Justice adds to the conclusion that these allegations are not genuine. It is the work of devious minds, seeking to unilaterally force the Chief justice to relent. It is like taking out advertisements in the daily papers by the NEC saying the Queen of England has Aids, and therefore she cannot be Queen anymore. Outrageous!!!? Yes.
Unilateral or preemptive action is not new. What about a media campaign saying a certain country has Weapons of Mass Destruction, so we should invade it? Sounds familiar? What about something closer to home- a certain Prime Minister is incapacitated and of unsound mind so we are taking over!
Oh what a potent concoction we brew at Waigani- a tapestry of lies and deception woven into the greatest legal farce ever invented by any politician or purported government in this country, that makes Ali Baba look like an Arabian Saint.
The Judiciary belongs to the 7 Million people of this country. It does not belong to Peter O'Neill and his merry men to do as they please. The Judiciary exercises the judicial power of the people. It is the people's justice that everyone must face equally. No one is above the law.
It is now time for the people to rise up and defend their institution- the Judiciary and its Constitutionally mandated Independence.
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