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https://www.dailypost.vu/news/lobby-team-leaves-pm-s-office-in-high-spirit/article_fa888886-a110-5091-a292-d3658c0110d7.html?fbclid=IwAR3N3oBI4s6xeh5J0f5wXeXZFO4sfhoprXo1XJRgvRNOmdoNflKvtvpZ_So
1) Lobby Team leaves PM’s Office in high spirit
By Len Garae Feb 18, 2023
Prime Minister (PM) Ishmael Kalsakau has assured the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) Interim President, Mr. Benny Wenda, that as Executive Head of Government, he will follow the exact path that his predecessors had followed concerning the historical demand by ULMWP to be added on the forthcoming MSG Summit Agenda for full membership into the MSG.
Pressed by the Chairman of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA), Elder Job Dalesa, to confirm if ULMWP will be on the Agenda, PM Kalsakau says he will be looking out for a “window” and when he finds it, the demand will be inserted for debate.
In his appeal, Mr. Dalesa went as far as reminding the PM of his late father, Mr. George Kalsakau’s excellent leadership as Chief Minister of Government on the eve of Independence over 40 years ago.
Mr. Dalesa reminded him that now as PM and one of the siblings of the late Chief Minister, he urged him as Chairman of the MSG Summit, to do everything possible to allow the Summit to accept the Application, pointing out that his positive involvement would go down in history as the Chairman through whose leadership, the West Papuans’ dream to be accepted into MSG finally came true.
Former PM Mr. Joe Natuman is a blessing to the Team since he impressed the entire process by sharing his historical expertise in those days when the MSG was formed and how and where the name “Spearhead” came about.
His in-depth knowledge of how the West Papua struggle started and ended up in Port Vila, has convinced the PM to ask for another session with Mr. Natuman just before the MSG Summit in Port Vila.
While I have been reporting on the lobbying by ULMWP and VFWPA until the culmination at the Prime Minister’s Office, the latest appointment ended approximately after one hour and most likely the shortest.
Mr. Wenda presented the PM with the West Papua Morning Sun Flag for which he told the Prime Minister, he was arrested and jailed by Indonesia for 25 years for raising the very flag, but he successfully escaped. He also presented him with a traditional West Papua string bag.
All members of the Lobby Team were in high spirit as they left for a late lunch at The Grand. Mr. Wenda has left Vanuatu to continue lobbying Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka of Fiji to support the ULMWP Application to become a full member of MSG.
1) Lobby Team leaves PM’s Office in high spirit
By Len Garae Feb 18, 2023
Prime Minister (PM) Ishmael Kalsakau has assured the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) Interim President, Mr. Benny Wenda, that as Executive Head of Government, he will follow the exact path that his predecessors had followed concerning the historical demand by ULMWP to be added on the forthcoming MSG Summit Agenda for full membership into the MSG.
Pressed by the Chairman of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA), Elder Job Dalesa, to confirm if ULMWP will be on the Agenda, PM Kalsakau says he will be looking out for a “window” and when he finds it, the demand will be inserted for debate.
In his appeal, Mr. Dalesa went as far as reminding the PM of his late father, Mr. George Kalsakau’s excellent leadership as Chief Minister of Government on the eve of Independence over 40 years ago.
Mr. Dalesa reminded him that now as PM and one of the siblings of the late Chief Minister, he urged him as Chairman of the MSG Summit, to do everything possible to allow the Summit to accept the Application, pointing out that his positive involvement would go down in history as the Chairman through whose leadership, the West Papuans’ dream to be accepted into MSG finally came true.
Former PM Mr. Joe Natuman is a blessing to the Team since he impressed the entire process by sharing his historical expertise in those days when the MSG was formed and how and where the name “Spearhead” came about.
His in-depth knowledge of how the West Papua struggle started and ended up in Port Vila, has convinced the PM to ask for another session with Mr. Natuman just before the MSG Summit in Port Vila.
While I have been reporting on the lobbying by ULMWP and VFWPA until the culmination at the Prime Minister’s Office, the latest appointment ended approximately after one hour and most likely the shortest.
Mr. Wenda presented the PM with the West Papua Morning Sun Flag for which he told the Prime Minister, he was arrested and jailed by Indonesia for 25 years for raising the very flag, but he successfully escaped. He also presented him with a traditional West Papua string bag.
All members of the Lobby Team were in high spirit as they left for a late lunch at The Grand. Mr. Wenda has left Vanuatu to continue lobbying Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka of Fiji to support the ULMWP Application to become a full member of MSG.
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https://www.dailypost.vu/news/sope-and-wenda-welcome-pm-s-stand-on-foreign-recruitment-in-msg-secretariat/article_b164556b-d37a-5fab-aa6e-569ed016188e.html
2) Sope and Wenda welcome PM’s stand on foreign recruitment in MSG Secretariat
Former Vanuatu Prime Minister, Barak Sope and Interim President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Provisional government, Benny Wenda, have welcomed the comment of Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Ishmael Kalsakau, regarding the purported recruitment of Indonesian consultants into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat in Port Vila.
PM Kalsakau, who is also chairman of the MSG, had made it clear to MSG Director General (DG), Leonard Louma, that any future employment within the MSG Secretariat must be sourced from MSG member countries.
“If the Melanesian region does not have those skills sets for any upcoming job then we can look beyond our region,” he said.
Sope and Wenda are both strong supporters of West Papua’s independence from Indonesia and believe that Indonesia should not be a member of the MSG.
Mr. Sope said that Kalsakau’s comments reflect the support of the people of Ifira, Kalsakau’s home island, for the independence of West Papua. Sope also recounted his history of supporting West Papua’s independence, including hosting the Black Brothers, a West Papuan musical group, on his island in Vanuatu in the 1980s.
Wenda said that the ULMWP’s main agenda is to gain membership in the MSG and that failure to support this agenda would be supporting the genocide in West Papua.
The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA) had expressed opposition to the recruitment of Indonesian consultants into the MSG Secretariat and accused the Director General of the MSG, Leonard Louma, of having a pro-Indonesian mindset.
VFWPA also stated that Louma should cooperate fully with Vanuatu, the current chair of the MSG.
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