PNG Constitution needs revisiting: Speaker Zurenuoc

Papua New Guinea Speaker of Parliament  Theo Zurenuoc has called for the national Constitution to be re-visited, re-examined and amended after 37 years of independence. The second-term Finschhafen MP, while addressing the graduation ceremony at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae Sunday, specifically pointed to religion and said the Constitution was more open and compromised with the freedom of religion. The constitution preamble contradicts the Christian faith of the people, he said. “I believe that in the preamble of our Constitution, we began on a compromised position, meaning that while we profess to be a Christian nation, we are challenged from all forms of religion,” he said. The preamble reads: “We, the people of PNG, united in one nation, pay homage to the memory of our ancestors, the source of our strength and origin of our combined heritage, acknowledge the worthy customs and traditional wisdoms of our people, pledge ourselves to guard and pass on to those who come after us our noble traditions and Christian principles that are ours.’ He said the preamble was contradictory and confusing because the Christian believers’ confession stated God as the source of strength and that some traditional customs were not worthy, especially those that promoted polygamy, sorcery and other traditional customs. Zurenuoc said section 45 of the Constitution called for the basic freedom of conscience, thought and religion and is a concern as it compromises our position it put the country in a compromising position. He said Papua New Guineans were now confused as some Christians had converted to other faiths which were already in the country or were still practiced in their traditional beliefs. “Today, I want you to realise that there is a flaw in one fundamental part of the building block which is the Constitution, more specifically the preamble and section 45 of the Constitution,” he said. Zurenuoc suggested the Christian faith to be institutionalised by the government which would see only  Christianity being practised in the country, being taught in the education system as a compulsory subject and get funding in the national budget.“The government should partner with the churches through their core business, which is to spread the Christian Gospel and win over souls to God, and the churches’ operations should be part of the government expenditures,” he said. There is already work progressing to revisit and re-examine the constitution before amendments, with a working committee already established. He said in the political front, the national Constitution and the adopted democracy had stood the test of a range of challenges over the past 37 years. However, the executive and legislative as two of the three arms of the government was under threat by corruption. Economically, Zurenuoc said the country was positively moving on an “unprecedented growth”. But the challenge was whether the majority would benefit from this wealth instead of a few who were in the right places and positions.  (THE NATIONAL)