Regional Briefs

By Brian Tobia

Solomon Islands students studying at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) were advised to return home and help their government rebuild their country.

This is a plea from a UPNG lecturer, John Kouni and a Solomon Islands public servant, Michael Larui. Larui graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing degree from UPNG¹s School of Medicine and Health Sciences last month.

The two men separately appealed to students to return home and help their government rebuild their country.
Larui told the graduating students that they were the pride of their nation and their government had the highest respect for them because ³you are the cream of the colleges² in the country.

³You are the top of the student population in the Solomon Islands and you are privileged to be sponsored to study here in PNG...you owe the people and government a great deal. He said the government is spending a lot of money to train its human resources, and urged them to return to the Solomons and help in nation building.

³Whether you are a private or government-sponsored student, there are enough jobs in the country to go around. You should therefore come back when you have completed your studies in PNG,² Larui said.

He said there was a greater need for educated Solomon Islanders to return home and contribute to its development.

PNG G-G null and void
Five Papua New Guinea Supreme Court judges on March 31 declared that the election by parliament of Sir Pato Kakaraya as PNG¹s next governor-general was null and void due to voting procedure irregularities. It was the second of such ruling in recent months. After it was given, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said parliament would soon be recalled to again elect a governor-general as constitutionally required. Somare had been hoping to delay the next meeting until June in the hope of averting a no-confidence attack on the government.

Justice Ward heads to Fiji
Tonga¹s British chief justice, Gordon Ward, has resigned half way through a 10-year contract to become president of the Fiji Court of Appeal from July.

Ward incurred the Tongan Government¹s displeasure with a ruling in 2003 in which he said the government¹s attempts to silence a critical newspaper, the Times of Tonga, were unconstitutional. The government later amended the constitution to enable it to enact press control laws. However, it asked Ward to continue as chief justice for the full term of his contract when it came up for a mid-term review. Ward has worked as a magistrate and judge in Fiji and as chief justice in the Solomon Islands and as an appeal court judge in Vanuatu.

Pro-democracy supporter appeals
Fred Sevele, a pro-democracy supporter member of the Tongan parliament and a prominent businessman, has urged Australia and New Zealand to bar the admission of Tongan cabinet ministers and senior government officials in protest against the Tongan government¹s new press control laws. He said Tonga¹s poor record of press freedom and political rights called for the application of the same travel sanctions Australia and New Zealand applied to some Fiji figures involved in the coups of 1987 and 2000.

New Caledonia goes to the polls May 24
New Caledonia¹s veteran anti-independence leader, Jacques Lafleur, is a candidate in the general election for a new territorial congress due to take place on May 24. His party, the RPCR, holds the majority of seats in the present legislature and leads the government. A dissident faction of the party will contest the election with a campaign intended to underline their belief that nothing politically significant has happened since the signing in 1998 of an agreement in which the RPCR and pro-independence indigenous Kanak politicians accepted a path leading to great autonomy for the French territory and possible independence. Lafleur is insisting that independence isn¹t desirable.

Pulufana¹s Samoa¹s new MP
Tiatia Pulufana, supporting Samoa¹s ruling Human Rights Protection Party, won a March by-election for a parliamentary seat made vacant by the death of cabinet ministers Seumanu Aita Ah Wa.

Taiwan war ships head to Honiara
Two Taiwanese warships and a naval supply ship were at the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, for what was the eighth goodwill call by Taiwan¹s navy since 1984. Foreign minister Laurie Chan welcomed the ships. The Solomon Islands prefers Taiwan to China and is rewarded with a steady stream of money from Taipei. The latest grant of S$5 million was for education.

Noble Fotofili replaces King¹s son
The choice of the next occupant of one of the nine seats reserved in Tonga¹s 30-member parliament for nobles was to be decided by tossing a coin. Then the Noble Tangipa withdrew in favour of the Noble Fotofili. The vacancy was caused by the death in February of the Noble Ma¹atu, one of the sons of King Taufa¹ahau Tupou.