Wrestle continues around PNG PM arrest warrant

Transcript

Calls continue for Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to resign amid an ongoing legal wrestle related to a major corruption case.

Police have been seeking to arrest Mr O'Neill for almost two weeks over alleged illegal payments worth around US$30m to a law firm.

Johnny Blades reports.

The national court on Friday granted a further stay to Peter O'Neill's arrest warrant which resulted from an extensive probe by the anti-corruption agency Taskforce Sweep.

Since the warrant emerged, Mr O'Neill has removed several key police officials, his Justice minister and Attorney General and disbanded Taskforce Sweep.

With the police department changing its lawyer in this case for a third time , the judge has noted with some weariness that the police are now challenging their own actions on the arrest warrant.

The legal manoeuvring from the Prime Minister's side has sparked protests in major centres this week, despite a police ban.

The social commentator, Martyn Namorong, was one of thousands involved in the protests.

MARTYN NAMORONG: What you have within the court system now is a facade of justice because now we have the Police Commissioner's lawyer trying to have the arrest warrant against the Prime Minister set aside. So every lawyer that's in court at the moment with regard to that arrest warrant wants the warrant set aside."

As well as ordering police to investigate the anti-corruption unit for its political links, Peter O'Neill has launched a stinging attack on Taskforce Sweep head Sam Koim, raising the possibility of him being arrested for treason.

This follows Sam Koim's visit this week to Australia where he briefed Julie Bishop on the situation.

The sacked Attorney General Kerenga Kua says the Prime Minister is the one in the wrong and the Taskforce Sweep team has acted fearlessly.

KERENGA KUA: I stand by the Taskforce Sweep team lock, stock and barrel in everything they do, have done and were doing up to the point of their decommissioning. I told the Prime Minister after he advised me of those things, I said: 'You know Mr Prime Minister, I have a message to you from myself,' and I said, 'you really need to resign as Prime Minister because you've disgraced the country.

Even at this time, Peter O'Neill appears to enjoy huge support among MPs, according to the National Research Institute's Dr Ray Anere.

RAY ANERE: At the political level, he has the support from the ruling coalition partners, but in terms of public support I think it's a different story and that's probably because the public opinion seems to be that the Prime Minister is in the wrong or has created an offence on the allegation that he signed the authorisation of payment."

Radio NZ International's correspondent, Todagia Kelola, says  it's likely the arrest warrant will be withdrawn.

He says that the Prime Minister's case has piggybacked on to court action by the law firm alleged to have received the illegal payments.

Paraka lawyers are claiming the payments made to it were legal, with the Finance Minister James Marape a plaintiff. 

TODAGIA KELOLA: Mr Marape is seeking the court's interpretation whether those bills were legally paid to Paraka. If the court ascertains that the bills are legal, it will throw everything into disarray again and that 71.8 million kina will have been legally paid to Paraka and there won't be any case.

Peter O'Neill has told local media that if the arrest is halted next week he will voluntarily go in for a police interview.