Yesterday’s

Editorial

Yesterday’s heroes ...

HISTORY has shown that although leaders are charismatic individuals, their power can easily be overthrown by the power of the masses.

No-one can be more aware of this then the current Papua New

Guinea prime minister Bill Skate, for the same masses that he used to get into power are now turning against him.

Surely, he must now know how for mer prime minister Sir Julius Chan felt when protesters, that were mostly mem bers of the armed forces, fronted up to parliament house demanding his resigna tion.

And while Skate has always projected himself as a man of the people, a grass roots hero, he is now finding himself slightly uprooted into the new year.

He has an unstable economy to deal with, rising dissent amongst his numbers in parliament, and increased dissatisfac tion by the people of Papua New Guinea

against decisions that he has made while in government.

The people’s power should never be under-estimated.

It can make up for any lack of educa tion, finances, or political power by sheer numbers alone.

If anything, politics in Papua New Guinea has never been a walk in the park.

In fact, in Port Moresby most people do not dare walk in parks because of escalat ing crime.

It is issues such as this that have forced the hand of the people.

But it must be sheer desperation, on Skate’s part, to have to move the next sit ting of parliament to mid-year, especially

when in the eyes of many peo ple, it is to avoid a vote of no confidence.

The level of dissatisfaction with the government, in particu lar with Skate, seems to be quite extensive. Certainly it is very

vocal. Ironically, the same Skate that managed to calm the crowd outside par liament house a year and a half ago, was booed down when he tried it again in November.

In PNG, it seems, the people are fed up of being treated as an after-thought.

Blatant corruption, ignoring rules, and abusing power make a sure recipe for dis aster when it comes to crowds.

The break-down of law and order is one case where the top-down economic theory works, and to great effect. 1999 is sure to be another interesting year in PNG politics, and if the people’s power keeps up, it may end without Skate. ■