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DSIP ‘politicised’

A POLITICAL scientist says the District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) has been politicised – with the large number of MPs joining Government to access public resources such as its funding.
National Research Institute’s political scientist Dr Ray Anere said DSIP funds were at the disposal of Open MPs “to use according to their district development plans and priorities”.
“The DSIP funds have earned themselves a characterisation in the sense that they’ve been used as a political tool to lure and attract members of the coalition who were part of it at the start of the Government after the 2012 general election to continue to stay,” he said.
He said it was used as tool to attract and to lure Opposition MPs “who saw the compelling need to provide services to their electorates and the immense significance of having access to DSIP funds”.
However, he said the DSIP had become a tool of service delivery on the part of MPs.
It applies to governors in terms of Public Services Improvement Programme funds. Anere said the impact of politicising DSIP applied to the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates.
“Every time an MP moves from the opposition or a party and joins Government or a coalition party, there are implications of whether there is compliance with the OLIPPAC.”
Anere said apart from accessing DSIP funding, other opportunities could arise if they joined Government, including the possibility of becoming a vice-minister or even a minister.
 
ONE PNG / The National
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