The front facade of Papua New Guinea's parliament featuring recently removed anthropomorphic carved heads on the front lintel. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
Papua New Guinea's acting parliamentary secretary Danny Puli has defended the reformation of the parliament.
The reformation campaign, driven by Speaker Theo Zurenuoc, plans to replace parliament house's traditional cultural objects with Christian symbols such as a copy of the King James bible recently donated to PNG.
Mr Zurenuoc has already removed various traditional artefacts which he considers to be idolatrous.
It's sparked an outcry, with the Catholic church, the Trade Union Congress and MPs warning the speaker is forcing his fundamentalist ideals on national assets without consulting the people.
But Mr Puli says there's much misunderstanding about the campaign, which he describes as being about forging national unity
"We believe that we need to actually take the message to the nation very clearly that our nation needs to be founded carefully on a sure foundation, united as one nation, rather than focusing on our localised traditions and cultures that we have locally," said Mr Puli.
