Public watchdog barks

Corrupting influences are at work on Papua New Guinea national leaders, a report to the National Parliament in Port Moresby claimed in November.

The report listed "free overseas trips, generous entertainment and dinners" among the infuences.

But it didn’t define who was providing the free trips and enter tainment. and claimed that secrecy was involved in the inquiries.

The report is the first to be tabl ed in parliament by the Om budsman Commission, a public watchdog authority set up under the constitution when PNG became independent last year. The commission reported it had become fully convinced of the need to retain laws which "regulate the affairs and activities of national leaders".

The commission was referring to the National Leadership Code, a guide written into the constitu tion which defines the expected

private and public behaviour of elected politicans, statutory office holders and senior public servants.

The commission said it was en countering some opposition to its inquiries into breaches of the Leadership code.

“Matters have come to our notice indicating that not every leader is prepared to adhere to the law." it said. "In some cases, there has been less than desirable co operation with the commission in its endeavours to ascertain the facts. 11 The commission said that it was pursuing inquiries in directions where it had not been extended full co-operation. It recognised a cer tain division of loyalties in the Public Service where citizens had to think of their friends, their superior officers, their departmen tal minister or the nation as a whole.

In theory, the nation should get their loyalty, hut in real life there was "a dilemma of choice"