By Norm Dixon
Controversial Melanesian Solidarity (Melsol) MP and Eastern Highlands provincial Governor Peti Lafanama was stripped of his seat in the Papua New Guinea parliament on August 28.
The PNG Supreme Court ruled that statements made by Lafanama in speeches during the general election campaign in May last year constituted an "undue influence" on voters.
Lafanama, at the time general secretary of the radical activist group Melsol, criticised the previous government's plan to register communal land in line with the demands of the World Bank. Lafanama also attacked the former government's resort to apartheid-linked mercenaries on Bougainville.
It was alleged that Lafanama told voters that Sir Julius Chan and his cabinet had "sold" the people's customary land to the World Bank/IMF and that the hiring of the mercenaries was not just to kill and destroy the Bougainville independence movement, but also to attack people in the rest of PNG who resisted the government's attempt to take away their land rights.
Lafanama and Melsol played a key role in the mass protests in Port Moresby in March 1997 against the Chan government's mercenary adventure, as well as organising grassroots political campaigns around environmental issues, compensation for land-holders from mining and forestry companies and opposition to the World Bank/IMF/Australian government-backed structural adjustment program (SAP).
A key component of the SAP was a proposal that all customary land be registered in the name of its "owners" and clear boundaries be demarcated. Rural people saw the plan as an attempt to undermine collective land ownership.
In 1995, led by Melsol, students boycotted their lectures and returned to their home provinces to organise awareness campaigns about what the SAP meant. The resulting nationwide protests forced the government to "postpone" the proposals.
Lafanama and fellow Melsol MPs caused a controversy — and were harshly criticised by the Melsol organisation — when they voted to join the coalition government led by Bill Skate.
The Supreme Court ruled that Lafanama's statements about the IMF/World Bank land plan and the employment of mercenaries constituted "undue influence" because they were a "fraud". This reversed an earlier National Court ruling that Lafanama's statements were merely "tough political campaigning".
Lafanama's opponent in the election, who was defeated decisively, appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
Lafanama argued that his intention was to present the truth to the people so they could vote consciously on the sensitive issue of land. He said his speeches included "generalised statements" presented in a way people at the village level could understand.
A by-election must now be held. Lafanama urged his supporters to accept the court's decision. Skate has pledged his support to Lafanama in the by-election.