Prime Minister Marape
demonstrates true leadership in opting to resign It is rare for a Prime
Minister, Premier or President of any given nation to opt to resign from office
instantly if found guilty of having committed a crime over controversial State
deals.
July 4, 2019
It is rare for a Prime Minister,
Premier or President of any given nation to opt to resign from office instantly
if found guilty of having committed a crime over controversial State deals.
In this case it is PNG’s newly
elected Prime Minister James Marape who genuinely told Parliament yesterday he
would not have any qualms at all about resigning from office if he is found
guilty of having breached any law relating to the scandalous K4 billion UBS
loan.
It only takes leaders of
integrity, standing and uprightness to openly declare their commitment to the
high office they hold to make such a bold and daring statement.
Too often leaders do not readily
want to declare themselves subject to the laws of the land but try their utmost
best to circumvent and prolong the legal process to ensure they are not
subjected to close and detailed scrutiny over scandalous deals involving public
money and resources.
The nation is actually watching
the new leadership right now in light of the revelations of the Ombudsman
Commission report into the UBS loan which highlight the path played by this
country’s top leaders and bureaucrats when the money was obtained for the
purposes of buying into Oil Search. The deal is so complex that the ordinary
person will not have any idea of how these sort of complicated arrangements are
made. Why it is complicated is because it involves mega dollars and
international financial advisers, financial institutions, banks, legal
companies and a host of specialist consultants.
Being the leader of a nation is a
special calling, a personal ambition, commitment and sometimes can be by
default depending on whatever the political circumstances that prevail at any
given time. Other reasons are intentional when there is a need to change the leadership
of a country where circumstances are no longer conducive for a functioning
democracy or where there is rampant corruption. Other reasons include financial
and economic crisis where the leadership of a nation blindly leads its populace
into believing well orchestrated announcements of resilient progress to the
contrary. Prime Minister Marape exited from the O’Neill government in protest
over certain decisions made by the executive government together with his now Deputy
Prime Minister Davis Steven.
They both protested actions which
seemingly were not in the national interest and perhaps did not adhere to the
legal requirements of the laws governing the country. They are both commended
for their brave stands despite their having had to forego their ministerial
privileges when they did so.
For Prime Minister Marape, he has
taken that conscious decision to step down from the land’s highest office if
found guilty of any wrongdoing over the UBS scandal. There has to be a bench
mark set for leadership requirements of this country where they have to resign
instantly from office when confronted with such controversial questions over
their ability to hold such high office.
