We were not informed about the constitutional amendment: Senior statesmen
A public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Constitution was held at the Parliament State Function.
The amendment in question concerned the preamble to the Constitution. Several senior statesmen and co-authors of the Papua New Guinea Constitution were in attendance, including Dr. John Momis, Sir John Kaputin, and former Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet, among other notable dignitaries.
Dr John Momis and Sir John Kaputin are two of the five individuals who led the work of the Constitution Planning Committee (CPC) responsible for drafting Papua New Guinea's constitution.
Dr. Momis said, “This proposed amendment is not necessary as it's already in the preamble and national goals and directive principles. PNG is already a Christian country. All the Christian beliefs are outlined in the preamble of the constitution, it's not necessary to amend the constitution.”
"If we amend, we must also consider legitimate citizens including foreigners living in PNG who are not Christians, people can be convinced to become Christians, but to force someone is against the constitution,” Dr. Momis said.
Sir Arnold Amet also expressed his views, stating that it is time to apply Christian principles in the preamble to real-life challenges.
He believes that evangelism should be used to win over more souls and change people's mindsets and behaviors instead of using the Constitution to force people to become Christians.
Representing the mainline churches, Reverend Joseph Walters supported the amendment and called for its implementation.
He argued that the Christian principles outlined in the preamble must be enforced and strengthened through the Constitution.
"Our Christian principles have been left hanging on the preamble and this amendment is important and it must go ahead. It's important for our country as well as our children,” said the Reverend.
Declaration of Papua New Guinea as a Christian country
The CLRC meantime conducted a nationwide consultation, including all 22 provinces, focused on the identity of Papua New Guinea in the face of global trends.
The consultation resulted in a report with six recommendations for possible amendments to the constitution's preamble.
The report was presented to the Parliament and Committee for consideration, showing Papua New Guinea's commitment to hearing its people's voices.
The six recommendations are
- first is amending the preamble of the Constitution declaring God as the creator and sustainer of the entire universe and the source of all powers and authorities. That is not done in the preamble of the Constitution.
- second recommendation that was made is amending the National Goals and Directive to create goal number six to include Christian values and principles, which is not included in the preamble of the Constitution.
- three, amending section one, that is the introductory part of the Constitution, and insert a new subsection declaring PNG as a Christian country and make allowance for other religions to be practiced in peace and harmony.
- four, inserting ten basic social obligations in the preamble of the constitution basically recognizing Christianity and Christian principles.
- five, amending the National Identity Act 1971 to reflect Christian identity. Christianity should also be included in that particular act of Parliament.
- six, developing a national policy on religion.
Secretary CLRC Dr Mange Matui said, “we are basically seeking through this particular proposal we are submitting before Parliament and the Committee is that in declaring PNG as a Christian country, we are giving identity and character to that person called PNG. And that is basically what we are doing in terms of declaring Papua New Guinea as a Christian country.”
PNG's identity and character are defined by a declaration, and the proposed amendment will identify it as a Christian country.
Although the Constitution's preamble is non-justiciable, it's still essential to PNG's identity. Indirect enforcement will preserve its unique cultural diversity.