AN Opposition MP has called on PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to resign because of the “illegality” of the Manus asylum seekers’ deal with Australia.
Kundiawa Gembogl MP Tobias Kulang said in a statement yesterday it was becoming more evident that the whole arrangement was illegal all along.
“The very fact that Prime Minister O’Neill and his learned Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato are willing to go to lengths to amend the national Constitution to protect this deal is evidence of their intention to legitimise their short-sightedness,” Kulang said.
“To date, there are no clear issues of national interest spelt out in this whole arrangement. So why are we exposing ourselves to all kinds of risks either immediate or long-term?
“If the arrangement was for the benefit of the nation, why did it lack major stakeholder consultation since it is an overseas-imposed policy?
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| PNG Prime Minister, Peter O'neill |
“This is a vote-of-no confidence against the country by its very own chief executive, therefore it warrants his immediate resignation.”
He also fears that the asylum seekers’ deal will expose PNG to the same problems indigenous Fijians were facing with Indian settlers.
“We give them an inch of our land now and they will take over our beautiful country in the years to come and completely displace our future generations,” he said.
“We in this generation have a moral responsibility to preserve our inheritance for the future generations and we will be cursed upon our graves if we do not.
“Papua New Guineans’ relaxed and laid-back culture stands no chance against those who are driven by economic hardship onto our land.
“They will consume and displace us socio-economically over a short period of time.
“We must not lose sight of the current situation in Fiji where the indigenous Fijians became completely dispossessed of their country.”
The National