BETHA SOMARE, daughter and press secretary of Michael Somare, has been in email correspondence with the PNG EXPOSED blog.

While Betha has been willing to talk, which is commendable, she has not provided legitimate answers to some simple questions.

While Betha should be congratulated for her attempts at open government, her answers so far do nothing to challenge the fact that her father, Michael Somare, is the chief of a government overseeing the theft of millions of kina every week from the people of PNG.

From Betha Somare

Thank you for emailing me even though you are nameless. I am happy to inform you that the findings and recommendations of the commission of inquiry were presented to parliament by the prime minister during a recent session of parliament.

This means it became a public document and available for all to see.

Unfortunately, Paraka Lawyers took out a successfully court injunction stopping publication and discussion on the Report.

Government is also unable to implement the recommendations of the Report because of the pending court decision. For your information, I have attached the PM's statement to parliament when he presented the Report.

I hope that in your quest you can also expose the truth.

From PNG Exposed

Many thanks for your reply and we appreciate your commitment to the truth. Perhaps you can explain:

1. What steps has the government taken to have the temporary injunction obtained by Paul Paraka lifted?

2. Why, knowing that Gabriel Yer is heavily implicated in the scams, has the PM given to him the financial powers taken from the Dept of Planning because of the scams involving Minister Tiensten?

3. What steps has the PM taken to investigate the claims by William  Kapris against Minister Pruaitch, who also benefited from the removal of powers from Tiensten?

From Betha Somare

1. Fundamental rules of separation of powers are at play here so the executive and the legislature cannot interfere with the rulings of the court.

2. Your previous allegation that Yer is PM's appointee is misleading. Gabriel Yer was appointed to my understanding following PSC process. Yes he is mentioned in the COI but government cannot act at this time because of the above mentioned court order.

3. I am not a lawyer but William Kapris is not a remandee, he is a convicted felon. He has no credibility. And you have no evidence that his utterance have any substance. Where are we heading when we begin to believe one person's word without evidence is the truth? In PNG the law is still that one is innocent until proven guilty. Starting from the premise that people are guilty and then trying to make mud stick is an injustice.

From PNG Exposed

Thank you for your reply to the three questions in the earlier email.

Unfortunately most people will find your answers completely unsatisfactory because:

1. On the Paraka injunctions it is nonsense to say the
government cannot do anything because of the doctrine of the separation of powers.

Any law student could explain this for you. Either you are receiving very poor legal advice; or really don't understand the doctrine; or you are deliberately attempting to mislead.

The government employs whole teams of lawyers in both the Solicitor General's office and Department of the Attorney General who are in and out of court on a daily basis on government business. This includes frequently trying to overturn injunctions or questioning the earlier decisions of the court.

There is NOTHING in the doctrine of the separation of powers that stops the government seeking to get the injunction lifted. Indeed, the injunction that was granted was an ex parte temporary injunction given as an emergency measure by the judge on hearing only one side of the argument.

The normal process when an ex parte injunction is given is for the matter to go back before the judge a few days later for all parties to be heard and for the judge to consider whether the injunction should stay in place. By doing nothing to ensure an inter parties hearing the government is failing in its duty to the people.

If the government is hiding behind a misguided reading of the Separation of Powers as an excuse not to act then the people are entitled to conclude the government endorses the K780 million scam. If you require independent legal advice to assist you on this issue then happy to find some lawyers who will help you and the PM on a pro bono basis.

2. On the issue of Gabriel Yer you have completely avoided the question that was asked. To state that it was not the PM who appointed Yer as Secretary of Finance some years ago is IRRELEVANT.

The question you were asked was, why has the Prime Minister, knowing Yer is heavily implicated in the Paraka Scams decided in the last fortnight to hand him all the financial powers of the Department of Planning?

While it was great the government responded to the scams in Planning by taking powers away from Teinsten it was ridiculous to then give financial control of that Department to Gabriel Yer. The PM said in the statement you kindly circulated that he had spent 5 months studying the Finance Department Commission of Inquiry report and therefore he must know intimately all the ways Yer has allegedly stolen large sums of money. Yet he gives him MORE power?

3. On the allegations made by William Kapris your answer is wholly misconceived. Nobody is suggesting that Pruaitch et al are not entitled to a presumption of innocence. What the people are saying is that serious allegations have been made and the police should investigate them.

Yes, Kapris is a convicted felon, but since when did the Police start ignoring tip offs from criminals? Often such people are the polices' best source of information. Who better than a bank robber to know who financed and profited from his crimes? To ignore his sworn statements and not insist on a police investigation smacks of a cover-up.

If the politicians are indeed innocent what do they have to fear? Why does the PM not ask them to stand aside and insist the police conduct a full investigation? Or is it one law for MPs and another for the rest of us?