BY BEN BILUA
WING Leader of Gizo camp, Jeffrey Wickham says his team compromised for the sake of Western Province.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Gizo Camp which is chaired by Rence Sore explained why they compromise during the election of the Speaker and the Premier.
“We clearly understand that if today’s (yesterday) election came as a tie, the assembly will definitely dissolved and God know when will be the next provincial election.
“This is the very reason why we compromise our votes. Let me be clear, we are not part of the winning side or the result today (yesterday) does not mean that our team has joined the other camp, what we did was, we gave our vote but we remain as team,” Wickham said.
He said the reason why his team remain is that they established a policy that he believe would encourage better services and development.
Wickham adds that the policy was crafted based on ideas and understanding that the members of the team heard and suggested to their people during their campaign.
“My team’s dream is to establish a government that has conducive policy that would align with national policies as well as the interest of the people of Western Province.
“Now the result is not in our favor, we will try our best according to our legal mandate to make sure the newly elected provincial government delivers services and developments that are vital to Western Province,” he said.
Camp Chair, Rence Sore shared similar sentiment saying that to comprise is not losing but a show of maturity.
“Let me tell you this, Western Province is in the heart of this camp. We came together as team with strong ambition to serve our province.
“Our mission was for a united government because if we have united government, we will deliver expected services and development we inspire,” he said.
Sore reiterated that the result of Speaker and Premier’s election shows his team’s maturity and the heart to save Western Province from another catastrophic outcome.
“We have the interest of Western Province in our hearts. We do not want the 10th Assembly to be dissolved because our province has already suffered for six months.
“Now the ball in on the other camp and we will play our role as watch-dog to make sure there is check and balance in the province’s operation,” he said.
Responding to comments on Social Media, one of the team’s member, Opportunity Kuku said people should understand the process before painting a bad picture on people.
“The reality of our decision is totally different from people’s view on social media. While we accept their freedom of expression, they should or must understand the reason behind the results.
“Freedom of expression is part of our rights, but to comment on something that you don’t understand is something else.
“As my colleague already mentioned, we get to the point that there is no reason to play cheap politic but to save the province from another disaster, that is dissolution of the 10th Assembly and go for a fresh election,” he said.
