“I resign with a heavy heart but with a clear conscience”, says Madang MP

A week after the Madang MP Bryan Kramer was reinstated by the National Court, he made his intention known to the country and submitted his resignation as the coalition party [Allegiance Party] to the Pangu led government.

The Madang MP said he was instrumental with the Opposition in 2019 purposely to see good leadership and restore accountability and transparency but after changes in leadership things turned out the opposite.

“This decision was not made lightly; however, upon careful reflection and in light of the current state of affairs in our country, I have made the decision to resign with a heavy heart but a clear conscience.

“Having returned to the office after two years, I have witnessed first-hand the pressing challenges our nation faces,” Mr Kramer said.

As the first term MP, Mr Kramer has held various ministerial portfolios including Minister for Police [June 2019 to December 2020], Minister for Justice & Attorney General [December 2020 to April 2022], and Minister for Immigration & Labour April 2022 to September 2022].

Kramer said these roles provided him with invaluable insights into the inner workings of the National Executive Council [NEC] and the broader government machinery and gained a deep understanding and appreciation of PNG’s challenges and opportunities available.

He said Transparency and good governance must be the cornerstones of the government's effort to rebuild the nation, which necessitates a firm stand against corruption; however, he said corruption has become so deeply entrenched.

“I spent most of my time in the NEC fighting to block countless harmful submissions that were being pushed on by the Prime Minister, who could not risk losing coalition numbers in cabinet.

“I firmly believe that it was these very factions that orchestrated my being moved from ministry to ministry and ultimately excluded me from the cabinet.

“Regrettably, since my dismissal, the opportunity to fight bad decisions from within the government has been lost, enabling the widespread misuse of public funds with impunity. This has increasingly placed our nation at risk, contributing to our current state of affairs,” Mr Kramer said.