Friday, March 21, 2014

Activist says signing of K3 billion loan by Prime Minister Peter O'Niel was rushed

By Melissa MARTIN
March 21,2014, 08:26 am-Post Courier.

The signing of the $A1.239 (K3 billion) loan to acquire 10.1 per cent shares in Oil Search is illegal, says the Peoples Power Movement activist Noel Anjo.

The activist, in an interview yesterday, said the signing of the loan by the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill was illegal and a rushed decision. 

Mr Anjo alleged that the Prime Minister did not get the approval from the National Executive Council, in breach of Section 209 of the Constitution and also breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.


"The Prime Minister also went against the State Solicitor’s advice therefore investigations need to be carried out and I am calling on the O’Neill-Dion Government to review its decision.


"The document was signed not long after dismissing the former Treasurer Don Polye from office, it was done within 24 hours, why was there a rush? "Why did he rush to sign the loan, is it an emergency case or are we in a war? Rushing to sign a very important deed raises a lot of questions," he added.
Mr Anjo said the Prime Minister did not get consent from the State Solicitor, he is relying on the second letter but the signature of the State Solicitor does not appear in the letter. Mr Anjo obtained a copy of both letters from the State Solicitor’s office yesterday which were also seen by the Post-Courier.

"The features of the letter head and others are not in line with the first letter officially issued by the Public Solicitor.

"The second letter seems like a scanned letter and dates and other features are different from the first letter," he added. The activist said sources from the State Solicitor’s office also allegedly confirmed that the second letter which the Prime Minister had relied on to sign the loan was not from their office.

"He is misleading the nation, the State Solicitor did not sign and the letter is not from his office, it’s from somewhere else. "The Prime Minister should explain this to the nation, where this second letter originated from because some features of the letter are missing.

"We want the Prime Minister to come out and explain that to the people."

No comments: