Minister for National Defence and Emergency Services Dr. Billy Joseph today has
slammed the commentary against a short video footage circulated on the social media of
him making a statement on the occasion of receiving Ijivitari MP Hon. David Arore to the
Social Democratic Party (SDP) last week.
The Minister said the written commentary on the video posted by someone with vested
political interest against him and the government is highly fabricated and has been taken
out of context of the full statement spoken by him on welcoming the Ijivitari MP to SDP.
“My statement was within the context of politics, in which the game of chess is played out
on the corridors of Waigani, where the seasoned players know very well how to play the
game, go back and get re-elected in elections, while the opposite can be true for first term
MPs. It is not wrong to say that all MPs would want to get re-elected in the next election.
And that re-election chances gets better based on service delivery and the leadership
qualities demonstrated during their term in office. I have stated that truthfully in my
statement without any reservations,” Dr. Billy said.
The Minister also stated that there is nothing on record in his statement and the edited
video circulated about compromising the national interests nor his ministerial
responsibilities at the expense of winning the next election.
“The long interpretation of this short video is clearly generated by a lot of hate and
jealousy and holds no grounds of misrepresentation on my part as Minister for Defence.
It’s a shame someone so desperate had to do a ‘cut and paste’ job to misinterpret my
statement to satisfy their political appetite and misinform the public,” the Minister said.
Dr. Billy said the full statement on the video has been cut to only 17 seconds and the
written commentary about it is clearly intended to cynically manipulate public opinion
during this window period of political horse-trading and maneuvering, leading to the
Parliament sitting in September, where the opposition is expected to move the motion of
VONC.
“While it is democratic to have an opposition for checks and balance of the executive
government, we need to have a good look at the players and see who has the best interest
for PNG. And let me also remind those behind these unscrupulous reports aimed at
tarnishing the government that the game of thrones will be played on the floor of
parliament, not inside darkrooms and on social media,” Dr. Billy concluded.
