| Friday, 18 May 2012 PNG Green Party leader Dorothy Tekwie reportedly claims she has been offered money and put under pressure not to contest for the seat of Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah in the looming election. According to Radio New Zealand, she was offered “six-figure sums” to abandon her campaign for the Vanimo seat in West Sepik province.
“I’ve also been threatened at times and intimidated by certain people that are associated with him,” she reportedly said.
“I’m not going to step down because people ask me not to, because I’ve seen what is happening with my people in the inland where he comes from.
“People virtually have nothing. Women have one skirt for the whole year and nothing else while money that comes from their forest is being squandered to pay for political survival of certain people.”
Namah, who is also PNG’s forestry minister, has already committed 30 million kina ($A14.4 million) of his own funds to the PNG Party he leads.
There could be a voter backlash in all forestry-related electorates due to the controversy generated by the Commission of Inquiry into special purpose agriculture business leases over recent months.
The leases helped PNG hit record exports of timber last year.
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