The Sandline Affair
On the night of 16 March, Singirok's soldiers swooped. They arrested Spicer, the mercenaries, and their support staff. The next morning, Singirok went on national radio, and accused Prime Minister Chan, Defence Minister Ijape, and Deputy Prime Minister Haiveta of corruption, and gave them 48 hours to resign. He also fiercely denied allegations that he was aiming to take power himself. Chan refused to resign, and the same day, sacked Singirok as Commander of the PNGDF, replacing him with the controversial Colonel Alfred Aikung.
That was the end of Singirok's direct role in the crisis that followed. However, Enuma carried out Singirok's plans in his absence. In the days that followed, the mercenaries were deported, the parliament was surrounded, and Chan, Ijape and Haiveta were all forced to stand down.
Following Sir Julius Chan's decision to stand down, Singirok went public with several serious corruption allegations against Chan's government. Chan stood again at the following election, but in the wake of the affair and Singirok's allegations, not only lost power, but also his seat in parliament.
Read more about this topic: Jerry Singirok
Famous quotes containing the word affair:
“A man’s dying is more the survivors’ affair than his own.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)