Five sacked

By GYNNIE KERO, REBECCA KUKU, ANTOINETTE POIVI and SAMANTHA KATI
FIVE Cabinet ministers have been sacked after defecting to the Opposition last weekend, as Prime Minister James Marape tightened his grip on power in the face of a motion of no confidence against him.
“I am sad to let the (five ministers) go but they chose to abscond from their portfolio duties and engage in politics in the face of a vote of no confidence,” he said.
“We have enough talent to draw from and I look forward to putting together a constructive Cabinet.”
The five decommissioned ministers included Finance Minister Rainbo Paita who led a group of Government MPs last weekend to join the Opposition camp.
The other four are Higher Education Minister Don Polye, Housing Minister Dr Kobby Bomareo, Energy Minister Robert Naguri and Tourism Minister Isi Henry Leonard.
Yesterday in Parliament, there were 67 MPs on the Government benches while 33 sat on the Opposition benches.
Either side needs 56 to form the government.
Marape yesterday reminded the Opposition to act fast on their motion as it was “hindering” the running of Government which was a “serious business”.
“Let’s get this (Opposition motion) out of the way as it is hindering Government work and services,” he said.
“Don’t make fire and noise (only) to stress out the people. The Opposition already has the numbers to make a submission so they must not (delay).”
But Paita said the Opposition was in no rush to file the motion. The caucus will decide on when they would make their submission to Parliament.
“One prime minister alone cannot change the country and address all the issues,” Paita said.
“It will take a team of leaders, and we have a formidable team.”
Paita said their decision to leave the Government side was “nothing personal” against Marape.
“We had a difference in opinion and we chose to leave to join the Opposition because we need leaders to work together as a team to address the ongoing issues in the country,” Paita said.
“The vote of no confidence is a democratic process and we will hold a caucus meeting to decide when to make the submission (to Parliament).”
Marape agrees that it is a democratic process but says the delay will cause unnecessary stress on the people.
“We do not fear anyone,” Marape said.
“But the Opposition must know that this is not a game. Their previous attempts (in February) were thrown out due to technical incompetency and alleged forgery of signatures.
“This time, the Opposition’s alternative PM is our former leader of government business. So he should know better and do better and get this over and done with.”