02-03-2012, 06:30 AM
Is it just me or is there a subtle momentum shift in Somare's favor?
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Rudd urged to do more on PNG crisis
By Online Editor
10:49 am GMT+12, 03/02/2012, Australia
Kevin Rudd Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is facing mounting calls to intervene personally to help resolve Papua New Guinea's continuing political crisis.
Rudd has made few public comments on the power tussle between Peter O'Neill and Sir Michael Somare, prompting accusations he is neglecting the issue.
Government sources insist Rudd has been deeply involved behind the scenes, but the Lowy Institute's Jenny Hayward-Jones says he should do more.
“It's time for Australia to play its strongest card,” the Pacific island expert and former diplomat wrote on the Lowy Institute's blog on Thursday.
“The Australian government has an important asset up its sleeve in PNG which it appears not to be using - the personal agency of Foreign Minister Rudd.”
Hayward-Jones said it might be worth sending Rudd to Port Moresby to meet Sir Michael and Mr O'Neill and encourage them to reach an agreement.
Hayward-Jones's comments came as PNG's The National newspaper called on Australia to broker a solution.
“And when it does its candidate for the job should be Kevin Rudd, Australia's foreign minister and a dear friend of PNG," the newspaper's editorial read on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we do not know if the friend tag suits any more since PNG seems to be nowhere near his radar for the moment”
However, a senior government source said Rudd has been dedicating significant time and energy to resolving the crisis - but had deliberately been quiet on it publicly.
“The megaphone doesn't always work in foreign policy,” the source told AAP.
“It was a very deliberate decision of ours to act quietly, behind the scenes.”
Rudd believes a personal intervention would risk inflaming tensions, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard agrees, the source said.
A spokeswoman for Rudd said he was closely engaged with PNG.
“During the recent crises it was repeatedly emphasised to both sides of the dispute the importance of respect for the rule of law and democracy in PNG and that any dispute should be settled calmly and peacefully,” she said.
Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said PNG should be one of the government's top priorities but it had slipped down the agenda.
“Kevin Rudd's focus on his bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council has meant that PNG and other countries in our region no longer have his attention,” she told AAP.
Sir Michael has been PNG's prime minister for almost half its 36 years of independence. He was dumped in August when a majority of parliament voted to form a new government under O'Neill.
The Supreme Court returned him to power on December 12 but O'Neill and his MPs refused to obey it, sparking the current impasse.
**********
Rudd urged to do more on PNG crisis
By Online Editor
10:49 am GMT+12, 03/02/2012, Australia
Kevin Rudd Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is facing mounting calls to intervene personally to help resolve Papua New Guinea's continuing political crisis.
Rudd has made few public comments on the power tussle between Peter O'Neill and Sir Michael Somare, prompting accusations he is neglecting the issue.
Government sources insist Rudd has been deeply involved behind the scenes, but the Lowy Institute's Jenny Hayward-Jones says he should do more.
“It's time for Australia to play its strongest card,” the Pacific island expert and former diplomat wrote on the Lowy Institute's blog on Thursday.
“The Australian government has an important asset up its sleeve in PNG which it appears not to be using - the personal agency of Foreign Minister Rudd.”
Hayward-Jones said it might be worth sending Rudd to Port Moresby to meet Sir Michael and Mr O'Neill and encourage them to reach an agreement.
Hayward-Jones's comments came as PNG's The National newspaper called on Australia to broker a solution.
“And when it does its candidate for the job should be Kevin Rudd, Australia's foreign minister and a dear friend of PNG," the newspaper's editorial read on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we do not know if the friend tag suits any more since PNG seems to be nowhere near his radar for the moment”
However, a senior government source said Rudd has been dedicating significant time and energy to resolving the crisis - but had deliberately been quiet on it publicly.
“The megaphone doesn't always work in foreign policy,” the source told AAP.
“It was a very deliberate decision of ours to act quietly, behind the scenes.”
Rudd believes a personal intervention would risk inflaming tensions, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard agrees, the source said.
A spokeswoman for Rudd said he was closely engaged with PNG.
“During the recent crises it was repeatedly emphasised to both sides of the dispute the importance of respect for the rule of law and democracy in PNG and that any dispute should be settled calmly and peacefully,” she said.
Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said PNG should be one of the government's top priorities but it had slipped down the agenda.
“Kevin Rudd's focus on his bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council has meant that PNG and other countries in our region no longer have his attention,” she told AAP.
Sir Michael has been PNG's prime minister for almost half its 36 years of independence. He was dumped in August when a majority of parliament voted to form a new government under O'Neill.
The Supreme Court returned him to power on December 12 but O'Neill and his MPs refused to obey it, sparking the current impasse.