Many politicians, lawyers and community leaders have condemned the Sandline commission report with Opposition Leader Roy Yaki claiming Sir Julius has made "a mockery" of the inquiry.
He accused Sir Julius of "bulldozing" his way back into the office of Prime Minister in "a desperate attempt to cover up the whole Sandline deal and deliberately cause more confusion in the minds of the public."
Yaki was cited by the Post-Courier today as saying the Chan claim to have been "cleared" by the inquiry was immaterial because as Prime Minister and head of government he had neglected his duty to ensure that Deputy Prime Minister Chris Haiveta - "who the inquiry has found to be untruthful" - followed proper procedures prior to executing the Sandline contract.
He also questioned the leaking of the inquiry report "to Nick Violaris, an associate of Sir Julius Chan and his People's Progress Party and asked if that had been engineered to "catapult Sir Julius back into office".
Yaki added: "We vow to reopen the whole matter and allow a proper and fair inquiry to be conducted if we get into government after the election."
A prominent lawyer and election candidate, Rimbink Pato, who earlier this year mounted an unsuccessful attempt to challenge the legality of the Sandline contract, said he believed Chan was "right legally" but "100 per cent morally wrong" in reclaiming the the prime ministership.
He said also that the Sandline inquiry terms of reference were "a joke written to make sure that nothing which might embarrass Sir Julius would be investigated.
"We knew it was a joke when the government's own legal advisers acted for the people who stood accused of misconduct," he said.
Giheno insisted he was still Acting Prime Minister, saying he would remain so until Judge Warwick Andrew's report on the Sandline inquiry was "legally" released to the public and action was taken on it.
He said that to "the ordinary Papua New Guinean" it would appear odd, and be perceived as irregular, that the sidelined Prime Minister should receive the report and act on it when it involved his own conduct.
"I must act on the report by either taking action on any findings and/or release the report to the public," he said.
"Then the matter is closed and the sidelined prime minister can resume his position"
He added that he had asked for up to two weeks to act on the report.
Giheno said he wanted to set up another inquiry to look at the quality and true value of the military hardware that Sandline had acquired for the state, refer Judge Andrew's report to the Ombudsman Commission and Public Prosecutor, and release the report to the public.
Chan has also been lambasted over the promotion of Colonel Leo Nuia to brigadier-general and his appointment as commander of the PNG Defence Force. Nuia was dubbed the "butcher of Bougainville" by opponents over an admission on television that soldiers under his command dumped executed Bougainvilleans at sea froim helicopters.
In a media statement, ousted military commander Brigadier-General Jerry Singirok said Chan had demeaned the office of prime minister and this was a "silly and stupid" decision.
"[Nuia's] reinstatement in the Defence Force and as the commander belittles and should create doubt in the minds of the public about the efforts, standing, integrity and credibility of the Defence Force in this country," Singirok added.
