More than 5,500 University of Papua New Guinea students who attended this morning’s forum agreed to boycott classes for a week with one demand – that PM Peter O’Neill step aside.
Students from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (Medical Faculty) campus at Taurama were also in attendance.
For the first-time, they joined students from the main Waigani campus, entering the premises around 10.30am in ten 25-seater buses and two vehicles.
“More than 400 Medfac students are on main campus right now,” a third year medical student told Loop PNG.
The forum, which started at 10am and ended at 1.45pm today, was held to gauge the views of the different regional groups in the institution. Twenty-two student leaders went on stage to pledge their support for the cause after discussions in their respective provincial and regional associations.
Their stance is still the same: Prime Minister Peter O’Neill must step aside and let justice take its course; and Police Commissioner Gari Baki to act upon the Court’s decision and let fraud director Matthew Damaru and Chief Inspector Timothy Gitua take office.
Milne Bay Province started off as the first speaker of the Southern region.
This was followed by the New Guinea Islands region, the Mamose region and finally the Highlands region. The forum is over for the day while the regional meetings have started. Students will be discussing strategies on how to go about in addressing the nation’s current issue.