Nauru Government condemns even more bad behaviour from opposition MPs
President Baron Waqa has
warned opposition MPs that the Government will not be diverted from
its reform agenda by scandalous behaviour from opposition MPs who
continue to put their own political campaign ahead of the national
interest.
The Nauru parliament last
night (15 May) saw scenes the President described as "highly
disturbing", with opposition MPs Sprent Dabwido and Squire Jeremiah
swearing on live radio and TV and abusing the Speaker of
Parliament.
Damage was caused in the
parliament after Mr Dabwido, a former President, damaged the sound
system and smashed the floor. The previous day (14 May) Opposition
MPs smashed a wall of the chamber.
Mr Waqa said the behaviour
was part of a campaign to regain power through stealth, and that
the Opposition was "trying to drum up support in the foreign media
to advance their political interests".
"All this talk by the
Opposition is a smokescreen for their blatant thirst for power, and
unfortunately the Australian and New Zealand media are swallowing
their lies and deception hook, line and
sinker."
The President reaffirmed the
Government's commitment to push through reforms including the
establishment of a Nauru Trust Fund to secure the nation's
financial future, while declaring that he would never allow the
cronyism and corruption of the past to
resurface.
"Our Government is the first
government for many years to make the tough decisions and reform
the way Nauru operates.
"The people elected us with
a strong mandate to restore our national pride and take us forward
and I can assure Nauruans we will do this, despite the Opposition
trashing our parliamentary system.
Mr Waqa also called on the
foreign media to pay greater respect to Nauru and to stop meddling
in their domestic affairs by taking the side of the
Opposition.
"It is hypocritical for
foreign media to lecture us when our democracy is no different from
theirs. If the Australian or New Zealand Opposition behaved as ours
does, their media would be condemning
them.