Papua New Guinea OPPOSITION Leader Belden Namah has claimed that the adjournment of Parliament on Wednesday over Covid-19 concerns was a breach of the constitution. Parliament which resumed on Tuesday after a five-month break was forced to adjourn to avoid a national security threat raised in a letter to the Speaker Job Pomat by Covid-19 National Pandemic Controller David Manning after 42 staff members tested positive. Namah told The National yesterday that he would challenge the adjournment in court, on top of a pending case in which he is questioning the passing of the 2021 Budget and Parliament’s failure to deal with a motion of no confidence submitted last Dec 14. Papua New Guinea Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika has questioned how a private hospital in Port Moresby had treated the late Justice Kirriwom when he was admitted in February. During a ceremonial sitting in honour of the late judge yesterday attended by widow Rachael and children, Justice Sir Gibbs called on foreign medical providers in the country to be considerate to 'PNG nationals, more so our leaders'. Justice Kirriwom was taken to Pacific International Hospital on Feb 23 at about 10pm. The hospital demanded an upfront deposit of K25,000 before they could attend to him. A total of 42 staff of the Papua New Guinea Parliament have tested positive to COVID -19. Speaker of Parliament Job Pomat announced this in parliament yesterday. He says the majority of these staff are indirectly employed with the chamber services. The Speaker told Parliament, they had conducted prior testing for staff that saw these positive cases. He says, recommendations from the Controller's office now calls for mandatory testing to be conducted for all staff which began this week. The Marape led PNG Government has used its numerical strength and adjourned Parliament to Tuesday 10th August 2021 at 2pm, despite the Opposition's tabling of a notice of motion for a vote of no confidence, substituting Peter O'Neill as their candidate for the Prime Minister's post, in place of the initial nominee Patrick Pruaitch. The Papua New Guinea Opposition has tabled in Parliament an amended motion of Vote of no confidence in the Marape led Government today. Leader Belden Namah confirmed with NBC News, the motion is not new but it's an amended motion only substituting the name of the Prime Minister nominee. Ialibu Pangia MP, Peter O'Neill has confirmed with this newsroom, he has been nominated as the alternate PM. The United States Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, Erin Elizabeth McKee has urged Papua New Guineans to take COVID-19 vaccines to stop the spread of the virus. “This pandemic will not end (in PNG) until it ends worldwide,” she said. “We must all do our part to stop it and that means getting vaccinated. “Unfortunately, misinformation spread via social media and word of mouth has led many Papua New Guineans to believe things that are untrue about the vaccines and many people have said they won’t get vaccinated. “But here is the simple truth: Vaccines work!” A Ceremonial Sitting of the Court will be held this morning to honour and farewell the Late Judge, Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, at the Waigani National Court complex, following his passing this month.
The late Justice Kirriwom is the third most senior Judge and passed away on the 12th of this month, whilst receiving medical treatment at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby.. The Highlands and New Guinea Islands Region will have their COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine supplies, distributed to them today. National Control Centre (NCC) Incident Manager Dr. Daoni Esorom made this known early this week. Frontline health workers, police, and defence personnel together with teachers will be among the first to be vaccinated. PNG Electoral Commission must strengthen the country's electoral system before the 2022 national general elections. Kandep MP Don Polye raised this concern in Parliament yesterday. Don Polye says the PNG Electoral Commission is not ready to conduct the 2022 national elections because of the weak electoral system. He told Parliament, this was the case for the Kandep Open Seat election, which took him four (4) long years of court challenges to successfully oust Alfred Manase. The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an application filed by the ousted Member for Kandep, Alfred Manase, seeking leave to review the declaration of Don Polye as the duly-elected Kandep MP. The National Court last week made the declaration following a judicial recount. Mr. Manase sought leave to review the National Court decision, alleging errors on the part of the trial judge. Justice Teresa Berrigan, however, dismissed the application, not satisfied that it has been demonstrated that the trial judge fell into error With the dismissal of this application, it now means that the declaration of Mr. Polye took effect as of 3pm yesterday, and he will take his seat when Parliament sits today. |
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