PNG’s Tkachenko apologizes for comment about ‘primitive animals’

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By Webdesk


Opposition, protesters are calling on the Foreign Secretary to address comments made in response to daughter’s TikTok video of a lavish trip to London.

Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister Justin Tkachenko has apologized for calling people who criticized his eldest daughter’s lavish trip to London for the coronation “primitive animals”, amid calls to resign.

Justin Tkachenko made the comment to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) after a TikTok video his daughter Savannah released earlier this week about her taxpayer-funded trip to King Charles’s coronation sparked outrage in PNG.

The now-deleted short clip, with the hashtag #aussiesinengland, showed Savannah enjoying cocktails in the airport lounge, enjoying the Singapore airport’s “so highbrow” shopping at designer brands Hermes and Louis Vuitton, cozying up in her chair in a Qantas spent pajamas and checked into what appeared to be a luxury hotel in London.

According to the World Bank, about 40 percent of people in PNG will live below the poverty line by 2020.

Tkachenko, who was also at the coronation, told the broadcaster that his 25-year-old daughter was traumatized by the reaction to her video and that the criticism was the work of “primitive animals” who “have nothing better to do”.

He said she hadn’t bought anything from the two shops and had traveled with him because his wife was unable to attend.

Opposition leader Joseph Lelang called on Prime Minister James Marape to sack Tkatchenko over the comments he said were an “insult” and discriminatory.

“Prime Minister, you are a Papua New Guinean,” Lelang said in his appeal, according to The National newspaper. “The Governor General (is) a Papua New Guinean. I am a Papua New Guinean, (plus) all MPs. We are not animals or primitives.”

On Friday, when some students protested to call for Tkachenko to leave, he apologized for the comments.

“I would like to personally apologize for my remarks which have been completely misunderstood and I want to let it be known that these remarks were directed solely at the individuals who made these disgusting and vile remarks about my daughter,” the foreign minister said in a statement. .

He added that he made the comments as a “father protecting his daughter” and that Savannah had received “horrible threats of a sexual and violent nature”.

About 30 people joined the PNG delegation to London, drawing more criticism over the cost to taxpayers. PNG also held its own ceremony in Port Moresby to mark the occasion.

Prime Minister James Marape said he was also offended by Tkachenko’s comments and had summoned the foreign minister to his office. He said he had “expressed concern about the use of these words” and that Tkachenko had “apologised to the country, to me, to the cabinet and the government for his remarks”.

He urged the people of PNG to “rise above the issue”.

The scandal comes as PNG prepares to host US President Joe Biden and Pacific Island Forum leaders in Port Moresby later this month. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be visiting.



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