As Papua New Guinea approaches its 50th anniversary, Regional Member for Bougainville and Minister for Police Peter Tsiamalili has urged citizens to seek peaceful solutions to national issues. He emphasized that violence is not the answer to the complex challenges the nation faces. His call follows University of Papua New Guinea representatives who challenged the government on current issues in the country during the official launch of the NCD Youth Summit, hosted by NCD Governor Powes Parkop on Monday August 12th, attended by Prime Minister James Marape, and several other key government officials. Minister Tsiamalili praised University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) Student Representative Council (SRC) President Joel Rimbu for his leadership in promoting peaceful contributions to national discussions. "In his statement, SRC President Mr. Rimbu has made it clear that the UPNG SRC does not sanction or endorse calls that have been made on social media, in many cases by non-students, for national student protests on the cost of living,” Tsiamalili said. He supported comments made by Minister for Higher Education Kinoka Hotune Feo, who also praised student leaders for their thoughtful approach to issues like the cost of living. “As Minister Feo said in his letter to SRCs and university leaders, now is not the time for uninformed protest. The fact is that our nation is facing a number of issues – these are not unique to Papua New Guinea but reflect a range of complex domestic and global factors.” Tsiamalili stressed that he would not tolerate violent protests. He recalled the events of January 10th, which showed the problems that can arise from ill-informed protests. "As Papua New Guineans we are better than that. We are Melanesians, and as Melanesians we resolve differences and raise disputes in a peaceful way.” The Minister encouraged students and all citizens to use proper channels to address concerns, such as writing to the Prime Minister and Government. He highlighted that students, as future leaders, have the ability to contribute positively to public discourse.