Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, will be the inaugural speaker of the PNG National Press Club Speaker series next week.
This was revealed during the announcement of the inaugural event by the Media Council of PNG and the National Broadcasting Corporation.
MCPNG President, Alex Rheeney, said since this was the first ever event of its kind and with the upcoming elections it was only fitting for the Prime Minister to launch it as well as be the opening speaker for the series.
“We will have high profile speakers who can come in and talk about issues of concern to Papua New Guineans but because it’s the election year, we thought that it was only right that we open the floor to the Prime Minister.
“After the first one then we would see the Opposition leader open the second one in the next month. That’s the sort of thinking that we got in mind. But there is nothing wrong with opening up the door to other personalities even international sporting personalities,” said Rheeney.
NBC Managing Director, Kora Nou, says they were careful during the planning stage not to make the event look like a political event and so would invite a wide range of speakers from various backgrounds will be invited to speak about issues facing the country and give the media an opportunity to ask questions.