James Marape Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
In the wake of his resounding defeat of a vote of no confidence last month, Transparency International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) is calling on Prime Minister James Marape to take action against corruption.
TIPNG's chairman Peter Aitsi says the time for rhetoric has passed, and Marape now has a golden opportunity to take action ahead of the next elections.
He explained his thinking to RNZ Pacific.
(The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Peter Aitsi: We are now effectively 18 months away from the 2027 national elections, and so the opportunity or potential for the Prime Minister [Marape] to face another vote of no confidence is now removed because of the constitutional protection that he is now afforded.
We at TIPNG believe that if the prime minister is serious and genuine in his intent to stamp out corruption, this is the time that he has in order for him to take some serious action because of the security of his tenure that is now presented to him.
The call that we are making, is that if he is serious in the statements that he has been making with respect to combating corruption, now's the time to act.
Don Wiseman: You would like him to do what specifically?
PA: For those that follow the work of TIPNG will know that we published many reports which show a complete breakdown in terms of the accountability structures within the PNG public service. There are reports of departments, agencies that have not acquitted their budget funding. And this is not one [or] two years, this is in some instances, five years .
It is issues such as that, that the prime minister has got hard data in order for him to make some decisions around the competence of those CEOs and secretaries that are heading these agencies.
What we are saying to him is, if he is serious about combating corruption, if he is serious about combating non-performers, look at that information and sack those individuals.
DW: A number of those individuals surely are actually within the Cabinet, aren't they?
PA: There are ministers that we believe have not performed or have not delivered any significant outcomes in the work of of this current government.
So, I think the now that [the prime minister] is secured, [he] should be emboldened enough to be able to take action on those ministers.
Transparency International PNG's Peter Aitsi Photo: Transparency International PNG
DW: I know that Transparency PNG has spoken very strongly about the need to ensure the next elections operate better. There were lots of promises made soon after the election, but as you say, effectively only 18 months before the next one, how close are they to having an improved situation going into 2027.
PA: Don, we are gravely concerned because there has been no significant change to the structure of our Electoral Commission itself.
There has been no significant change with respect to, firstly, the governance that the organisation operates unde [and] the capabilities of the workforce that is tasked with the delivery of elections has not changed.
There has not been consistent funding provided to the Electoral Commission to prepare itself or even to conduct its operation at any kind of reasonable level. With that lack of support for those types of outcomes, clearly, the government is negligent in terms of preparing for the 2027 elections, based on those observations.
DW: To what extent do you sense that this government takes notice of an organisation like Transparency?
PA: I think it can be seen over the years that there is some attention given to the comments made by TIPNG.
We see that in terms of the creation of more recent years, the creation of ICAC. We see that in terms of the response from the prime minister directly to some of our statements, and we also see that in terms of the government reaching out to TIPNG to support some of its activities, in terms of delivering national anti corruption strategies.
I think there is a receptive ear and healthy respect for the work of TIPNG. The statement we are putting out is essentially a wake up call, a sounding of an alarm, because we are only 18 months away from the 2027 national elections.
DW: And specifically, what do you want to see there?
PA: Given the time we have got left, we have made three specific calls. One is to address the governance within the Electoral Commission. We have put recommendations through to parliament suggesting that there be a three person commission at least, so that there is more of an oversight of the activities of the Electoral Commission.
I have raised the questions around the capabilities, competence of the current Electoral Commissioner, and in making the call for the prime minister take action. We are also suggesting perhaps that his own position needs to be considered. By that, I mean the current performance of the Electoral Commissioner.
The second is around publicly placing online the Common Roll, and having it made available to the general public and the voters to be able to, in a way, vet themselves or find themselves on the common role, and then put a process in there that allows for the Common Roll to be updated on a digital platform so that it can assist the work of us essentially updating our Common Roll.
The third is to ensure that the Electoral Commission receives its full budget and receives it consistently over the remaining 18 months, so that it can better prepare for the election. Those are the three main focus areas with respected elections.
DW: How important is the committee that Alan Bird headed?
PA: Well, the work of that committee is now done, and their report has been tabled in parliament.
But in our statement, we were calling on the prime minister to champion that report. Now it is a property of parliament, so he, as our leader of government, needs to champion that report and bring through the recommendations that have been put forward by Governor Bird's committee.
