A Global Citizen

Those remarks aimed at former PNG firebrand politician, and former co-president of the ACP-European Union Assembly, Sir John Kaputin settled the intense process of selecting a Secretary-General for the ACP secretariat overseeing interests of 78 ACP countries. Sir John, 63, of Baai and Matupit in the eastern tip of New Britain Island, PNG will assume the position on March 1. His term is for five years.

"Papua New Guinea has clearly demonstrated that it is capable of producing some of the best people in the world who can assume high international posts," says PNG Foreign Affairs Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu who led the diplomatic efforts for Sir John's appointment.

Initially contested by Samoa, the 15 Pacific countries stood behind him when the nomination went to the ACP Ministerial Council in Belgium late last year.

Sir John told Pacific Magazine that while he is disappointed with the media reports of the preliminary clashes between PNG and Samoa, he recognizes that his ACP Secretariat responsibilities require him to accommodate all 78 member countries.

Sir John Kaputin says his time at the ACP will be focused on improving public participation in development. Photo: Peter Niesi

"A lot of the conflict that we are dealing with here-we saw our own case in Bougainville, we had a situation in Fiji and the Solomon Islands and in Burundi or Rwanda-is because the people themselves are not engaged or are not meaningful participants in the overall development in their respective countries," Sir John says.

"Therefore tensions arise, social disorder and lawlessness takes place. So my attention will be directed towards dealing with those things.

"In 1994 as (PNG) Foreign Minister I initiated the resolution in the United Nations General Assembly on opportunity and participation. That is now an accepted document in the UN system. I hope in some way I can pursue the matter further."

"Papua New Guinea and the Pacific have gained a significant advantage and the much needed strong voice," PNG's Opposition Leader Peter O'Neill said, in rare support of the PNG government.

"We can only expect improved trade and negotiating positions in the future with this appointment."

Sir John will have to hit the ground running as negotiations are underway to give substance to the Contonou Agreement. The previous 10-year Lome Convention governing preferential trade and aid arrangements between the 48 African nations, 15 Caribbean nations and 15 Pacific nations-all former colonies of the expanding European Union countries (now 25) expired in June 2002.

The new 20-year Contonou Agreement retains duty-free market access by ACP countries to the EU for products such as coffee, tea and cocoa; continues considerable development assistance in areas like roads, wharves, airports and human resource capacity-building; and access to the European Union Investment Bank. But it also allows individual countries and regions to develop a new set of relationships with the EU, using benchmarks such as good governance and human rights.

For the Pacific and PNG, Sir John's appointment means that the Pacific perspective-as well as the small island states and developing states issues-will have an inside track in negotiations.

Sir John's task will be to ensure that the ACP voice is not drowned by the economic might and intensity of first world EU countries driven by capitalistic interests.

One of PNG's pre-independence (1975) political activists, Sir John was a firebrand, an eloquent communicator mobilizing his own Tolai people and nearby New Irelanders to form the Mataugan Association. He was among the first to moot PNG's case for self government and independence as early as 1970 with then Australian Prime Minister John Gorton and Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam during the colonial days. A year later he was interacting with leaders of other global movements pursuing self-determination and political independence with the blessings of the World Council of Churches in Stuttgart.

Sir John's political career began with his election to the House of Assembly in 1972 where he helped shape the PNG Constitution as member of the Constitutional Planning Committee. He subsequently served five terms (30 years) in the National Parliament holding ministerial positions overseeing Justice, National Planning and Development, Finance, Minerals and Energy, Foreign Affairs, and Mining and Petroleum.

Sir John has served as chairman of the bipartisan committee on the Bougainville Crisis and as Special State negotiator for Bougainville in helping to resolve a complex, bloody crisis that spanned a decade.

In September 1995, Sir John as the Member for Rabaul was elected president of the ACP Group of States and co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly based in Brussels, Belgium. His work then-including leading delegations to ethnic-cleansing ravaged Burundi and Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, and Togo-resulted in the awarding of a Togolese Medal of Freedom and Liberty by the government of the Republic of Togo as well as his appointment as honorary president of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in 1997.

O'Neill says of Sir John: "I am confident that, given your proven leadership skills and well known strong views and foresight on regional and international issues, you are more than adequately equipped to take on the challenges ahead."

Sir John urges Pacific Island countries to work on their economic partnership agreements with the European Commission, saying that the overarching emphasis of the Contonou Agreement is poverty alleviation intertwined with national responsibilities on good governance, structural adjustments and human rights.