C o n c l u s i o n
From the early 1960s to the early 1970s there were two new waves of leaders in Simbu, the 'modernizers' of the 1960s with limited education and some experience in
the outside world who became councillors, and the young men^ secondary
schooling who entered politics after some professional training, seeking council or parliamentary office. Each new generation used knowledge and experience gained outside the clan to seek the support of their own kinship group so as to achieve an elected position in the state structures. Once a man gained public office, he used the benefits obtained from the state^/including access to credit^to build up personal wealth and public credit within the clan and tribe, thus emphasizing those traditional aspects of leadership which require wealth and generosity. Such wealth was not produced by traditional means, but was derived primarily from a government position. The new leaders used their position as intermediaries between different spheres to boost then- status within their traditional group, which was indeed a traditional technique. This process was followed by both the former mission and government workers who became councillors and MHAs in the 1960s, and the educated young men who became councillors, MHAs and ministers in the 1970s. Outside resources helped each new cohort to bolster its position against an earlier generation of leaders. Having initially used a group vote base, they needed to strengthen their hold using appeals which could apply beyond that base.
The question for them was what means to use. In Chapter IV we saw how colonial leaders used their positions as intermediaries to tap into the political resources made available through the colonial state, as well as raising their own wealth and status through increased traditional production and exchange. These were times of peace, when the qualities of wealth, generosity, the capacity to build alliances and incur debts were important, as were/skills, oratoy. Relations with the state were one of clientage. In the 1970s another, more assertive aspect of tradition was utilized by the anti-colonial firebrands of Simbu. These were uncertain times. The path of development appeared not to have led very far, and there were resentments at the constant humiliations and dependencies of colonial status. The angry young men of Simbu, with clear cut ideas for change, thus were capable of making relevant appeals within the differing strands of Simbu leadership traditions. Perhaps, despite the resentment of people who had followed other routes to power locally, this was a time for hard or even hot men (or 'strong' men in Read's £1959] terminology), and this is why Okuk succeeded in the 1972 election, and later over Chimbu Coffee.
Yet a deep generational cleavage remained between the young men and old, which was frequently mentioned by both groups. This chapter has also described the apparent eclipse of two generations of leaders, the late colonial village officials, and then the councillors themselves. The sense of trauma and insecurity in the society was such that
older clan leaders, some of them former luluais, revived inter-clan warfare to settle
disputes, with the effect of raising their renown and subordinating younger men who were unfamiliar with this sort of politics.
The clan was demonstrated to be the fundamental unit of political support in the state arenas, too. The mobilization of clans to vote was frequently extremely successful, as demonstrated in the solidarity of clan voting. Younger men needed a clan and tribal base as a launching pad for entry into the new political institutions, but to be sure of success they had also to make appeals which transcended their clan base. The problem of political mobilization was most clearly demonstrated in the 1972 campaign for the Chimbu Regional seat, but was manifest in the Open campaigns as well.
The most successful candidates were hard campaigners who had made personal contact with a wide range of voters, and older leaders who articulated traditional exchange relations, government positions as interpreters, and church positions as catechists. They required symbols and ideologies which would have appeal within the changing Simbu political culture. Similarly, the older men also needed younger men
with save in order for their groups to gain access to the resources of the state. With
mixed success, as with the Pre Pol Watchdogs, young men successful in the cash
economy therefore sought alliances with older leaders, using financial and other resource/from outside the clan.
This was a tense period of adjustment. As a major test-case the conflict over Chimbu Coffee had clearly demonstrated the nuisance value if not the formal power of the new young men of politics. Okuk, in particular, had demonstrated himself a fearless hater, a warrior in the new district and national political arenas, with immense disruptive capacity if not jural power in a range of spheres such as business and local institutions. In late 1973 the young men appeared to be ascendant, but in ter-generational struggles continued through 1974. They were still the strongest dimension of political conflict in mid-1975, when the final transition to independence and the process of forming the provincial government commenced
'PULLING POWER INTO OUR HANDS: