Dear ACT NOW! member,

Papua New Guinea's democracy is under attack and we need to ACT NOW!

Please send an email the Chief Ombudsman asking him to investigate the Prime Minister, Leader of Government Business and Speaker for shutting down Parliament.

Parliament has sat for just 30 days in the last year and has now been adjourned, in very controversial circumstances, until November 

Faced with mounting opposition of its amendments to the Environment Act, failure to take action over chronic corruption, its waste of public money and a vote of no confidence, the government has shut down Parliament and run off to hide. 

This is another attack on our democracy from an increasingly autocratic government.

Legal opinion says the adjournment of Parliament is undemocratic and unlawful -  as The Constitution makes it mandatory for Parliament to sit for at least 63 days a year.

The Ombudsman Commission says the penalty if Parliament doesn't sit for the required number of days could be 10 years prison. But the Commission is doing nothing because it says it has not enough resources to investigate all 109 MPs.

We need to tell the Ombudsman Commission this is WRONG.

The Ombudsman doesn't need to investigate all 109 MPs. It was the Prime Minister, Leader of the House and Speaker who orchestrated the adjournment - against the wishes of the majority of MPs who were present. It is these three who should be investigated.

Please email the Chief Ombudsman right now and tell him you want him to investigate the Prime Minister and the Speaker for shutting down Parliament

If there is no accountability for Parliament not sitting then Papua New Guinea's democracy is dead.

Your ACT NOW! team