Our country needs an effective Opposition in Parliament. It is so important for our democracy to survive.

All democratic countries need an effective opposition in their parliaments. Many democracies thrive on
the back of an effectiveness of opposition doing its jobs with such candor in the people’s house.
Our Leaders of the Opposition going back to the late Sir Tei Abal at Independence in 1975 have done a
tremendous job in keeping the executive government in check. Many of the ills and anomalies attributed
to the executive governments over the years would not have seen the light of day and addressed without
the voice of our Leaders of the Opposition and the team they have led.
Sir Tei is well remembered for his opposition to independence, which eventually came on 16th September
1975. As the first Leader of the Opposition, Sir Tei’s argument was that we, as a people and a future nation,
were not prepared to self-govern and we needed some more time for the Australian administrators to
develop the place more.
Sir Tei and the Opposition he led did not totally oppose independence per se. They were more concerned
about the status of development up to the mid-1970s in so many parts of the fledgling territory in terms
of infrastructure, public institutions, education of the people and economic opportunities for all.
The sentiments of Sir Tei and those behind him were well-informed by the status of development from
his own Enga District (as it was then called) and surrounding Southern Highlands, Western Highlands and
the rest of the highlands provinces that were only exposed to sustained Australian administrative inroads
in the 1950s. The people in the highlands provinces and the hinterlands of the maritime provinces were
just coming to terms with modernization and some areas, they were just about to when independence
was high on the agenda.
Sir Tei and those behind him were right in many respects when we juxtapose their sentiments from the
vantage point of the development challenges we have faced throughout the 1980s up to now.
Sir Tei and his team in the Opposition played their part to speak up on what they saw as on coming
challenges the new nation would encounter. We can only lament that they were right. More profoundly
though, Sir Tei and his team played their part in the Opposition to forewarn our leaders and decisionmakers
in the lead up to 16 September 1975.
Following on from Sir Tei, we have had outspoken Leaders of the Opposition who stood up for what is
right and correct by the interest of the country, its people and the Constitution and its enabling laws.
Some of the issues raised by the Leaders of the Opposition have led to changes and even court historic
victories.
In recent times, the current Leader of the Opposition Mr Belden Namah has challenged the present and
recent past executive government on a number of significant matters. The purchase of the two electricity
generators through an Israeli company is one example. This matter is still in court.
The other is the manner in which Prime Minister James Marape was voted into office by Parliament on 30
May 2019. The Supreme Court in a unanimous five-man bench ruled the election as constitutionally
correct.
Mr Namah lost the case, but he played his part as the Leader of the Opposition to question the manner in
which the PM was elected. The landmark Supreme Court decision is now a precedent case that legislators
(MPs), lawyers, judges and law students can refer to in the future.
Another example is that, a number of significant questions were raised by the opposition in terms of the
management of the nation and its economy following the surprise vote to adjourn Parliament on Friday
13th November 2020. The Ministers and MPs who moved from the government side to the opposition
raised serious questions about the economy and management of the country during the press conference
that Friday afternoon and in the subsequent four weeks of the political camps. Those questions are in the
air with the political climate having changed once more and many of the government MPs returning back
to government on Wednesday 16 December to reaffirm the support for the Marape-led government on
the floor of Parliament.
It is anticipated those economic management questions raised by the opposition will be addressed and
signs are the government has listened and is beginning to act on some of them. More is yet to be seen.
At this time, Mr Namah is also questioning, through a Supreme Court reference, the passage of the 2021
National Budget in one day’s sitting of Parliament without debate and the lengthy five-month
adjournment of Parliament. He is also questioning through the Supreme Court reference the Speaker Mr
Job Pomat for not entertaining the Motion of No-Confidence (MONC) on PM Marape that was presented
to him (Speaker) few day it convened as directed by the Supreme Court.
These are constitutional questions that the current Leader of the Opposition has arrived at over the
performance of the legislature and executive arms of government and has brought them to the third arm
of government in the judiciary interpret.
It is the role of the Leader of the Opposition to do such a thing. The Leader of the Opposition does not
deserve to be accused has having ulterior motives or being a busy body running to the courts. He has the
legitimate constitutional right and duty to perform as the Leader of the Opposition. Our country needs a
strong Opposition at the end of the day to keep the legislature and executive arms of government in
check.