The results of the 2022 Papua New Guinea elections confirm that women will once again sit in PNG’s Parliament — after a hiatus of five years.

The 2022 elections were therefore not exactly a repeat of the 2017 elections for women candidates, but much more work is needed if significant numbers of women are to be elected.

The two new women MPs are Rufina Peter, who won the governorship of Central Province as an endorsed candidate of the People’s National Congress, and Kessy Sawang, who won the Rai Coast Open seat as an endorsed candidate of the People First Party.

• READ MORE: Hope for women in PNG elections – Peter becomes lone female governor
• Other PNG election reports

There were 10 other women candidates who were placed within the top five for the seats that they contested (see the list at the end of this article).

So, unfortunately for democracy, PNG’s 11th Parliament will again be an overwhelmingly male-dominated legislature.

However, a promising trend evident in the 2022 elections was a significant increase in the number of women candidates endorsed by political parties. Data provided by the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission indicated that, of the 159 women candidates nominated in 2022, 64 (40.3 percent) were endorsed by political parties.

In 2017, there were 167 women candidates, but only 38 (22.8 percent) were endorsed by political parties.

Doubling of proportion
This is an almost doubling of the proportion of women candidates with party endorsement for the 2022 national elections, despite a slight decline in the number of women candidates.

Most parties endorsed between one and four women candidates, but the National Alliance endorsed five, PANGU endorsed seven, and the new People’s Resource Awareness party endorsed a total of nine — a record number for PNG.

But, while the results for women candidates were not an exact repeat of the 2017 elections, the barriers and challenges that women experienced most definitely were.

PNG media reported many problems with the conduct of the 2022 elections by the Electoral Commission.

Several of the PNG Post-Courier editorials have been very critical, claiming that the elections may be the “worst since independence”. PNG election analyst Terence Wood concluded that whether or not it was as bad as 2017, the 2022 elections “have still been much worse than the people of PNG deserve”.

Many thousands of voters could not vote because their names were not on the electoral roll, which had not been updated since 2017. There was also inadequate security at polling and counting centres, and poor logistics and handling of election materials.

As a result, the elections were marred by allegations of fraud, corruption and foul play, which were the catalyst for violence and chaos in parts of the country, including in the capital Port Moresby.

Poor conduct details
The post-election reports from international and domestic election observer teams will document in detail the poor conduct of the 2022 elections.

Violence, bribery, vote rigging, stolen ballot papers, and manipulation of counting at counting centres all disadvantage women. Female candidates publicly condemned the undemocratic nature and practices during polling and counting in Enga and Jiwaka provinces.

They were joined by former member for Eastern Highlands Province Julie Soso, NGOs, and more than 100 women leaders who protested about the way in which their right to vote had been taken away by corruption, violence and intimidation by male candidates and their supporters.

Some women candidates in Port Moresby used their social media platforms to call corrupt electoral officials, candidates and their supporters to account.

The dangerous and unfair electoral environment in certain areas may have also led some capable women to decide not to contest the elections. In the past three elections there was a steady rise in the number of women candidates, but not so in 2022.

At the 2022 elections, the number of women candidates decreased by 5 percent from 167 in 2017 to 159 in 2022.

In light of the results of the 2022 elections, the PNG government should reconsider the role that temporary special measures (TSMs) could play in increasing the number of women elected to Parliament.

Formidable challenge
However, attaining political will at the highest level will be a formidable challenge.

The Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-Based Violence (SPC-GBV) tabled the second and final Report of the Committee on 21 April 2022, which included recommendations for immediate action by the next government in respect of TSMs and other measures to support the political empowerment of women.

They included support for the 2011 proposal to reserve 22 seats for women, and a party candidate quota, as specified in the amended Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC).

Prime Minister James Marape has already rejected outright the need for reserved seats for women.

Making reference to Rufina Peter’s election to Governor of Central Province, he claimed that “any women can win any election, they do not need special seats in Parliament”.

He maintained that women can win on their merits, but acknowledged the flaws with the electoral process in 2022 that made it much more difficult for women to get elected, and promised to improve the electoral process to make elections free and fair.

However, Marape has yet to comment on the amended OLIPPAC, which was approved by the National Executive Council and tabled in Parliament on 3 January 2020. This legislation includes section 56(4) which states:

“A registered political party shall, from the total number of candidates nominated by the party in a general election, ensure that twenty percent of these candidates are women candidates.”

More candidates needed
While 64 women candidates were endorsed by political parties in 2022, many more such candidates are needed. Political party quotas for women candidates are used successfully by many countries around the world and could, if implemented, significantly increase the number of women candidates in PNG.

This form of TSM still allows voters to decide which candidate, based on their merits, they want to represent them.

Political party quotas would therefore be a positive step, but will not be enough. What is also needed is a holistic reform of the electoral process to make it more accommodating of women as both candidates and voters.

The 10 women who finished between second and fifth were:

Jean Eparo Parkop – an Independent candidate who contested for the second time for Northern (Oro) Regional and came second.

Delilah Gore – a People’s National Congress party candidate who contested for the third time for Sohe Open and came third.

Jennifer Baing – a People’s Movement for Change party candidate who contested for Morobe Regional and came third.

Diane Unagi-Koiam – a United Labour Party candidate who contested for Moresby Northeast Open and came third.

Lynn Ozanne Ronnie – an Independent candidate who contested for Manus Open and came third.

Michelle Hau’ofa – a People’s Party candidate who contested for Moresby South Open and came fourth.

Vikki Mossine – a Future of PNG Party candidate who contested for Rigo Open and came fourth.

Joyce Grant – a National Alliance Party candidate who contested for Kiriwina-Goodenough Open and came fifth.

Jennifer Rudd – a PANGU party candidate who contested for Milne Bay Regional and came fifth.

Rubie Wanaru Kerepa – an Independent candidate who contested for Kavieng Open and came fifth.

All were first-time candidates except for the first two, and eight of the 10 candidates were endorsed by political parties.

Orovu Sepoe is a gender equity and social inclusion specialist. Currently working as a consultant, she was formerly a senior lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. Dr Lesley Clark served for five terms in the Queensland Parliament in Australia. She has participated in several election observation missions, including the last three in Papua New Guinea. Teddy Winn is a PhD candidate in political science at James Cook University. This article was first published here by the DevPolicy Blog and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

Papua New Guinea’s Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says he will seek a further extension from the Governor-General for the return of writ for Southern Highlands provincial seat which has faced protracted delays in counting.

He said any discussions and talks of “failing” an election and calling for a supplementary or a byelection was not on his table and would not happen as the costs of running elections had escalated and were expensive.

Sinai said he would be writing to the Governor-General, Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae, today requesting an extension for for Southern Highlands and other remaining electorates that were still being counted.

• READ MORE: Other PNG elections reports

The last extension for the return of writs from July 29 to August 12 expired today.

The commissioner called on all Southern Highlanders to cooperate and allow the electoral process to continue without interference and delays to the counting as for the past couple of weeks.

“I am calling on all Southern Highlanders, especially those in Mendi, to observe and respect the rule of law and let the electoral process continue without interruptions,” he said.

Sinai said the commission would be seeking more police reinforcements for Southern Highlands to beef up security on the ground and ensure that counting was completed and the result delivered.

The commissioner expressed concern over a public perception people had about Southern Highlands as a “place of trouble”. He urged local leaders and supporters to put politics aside and think about building and protecting the image of the province.

“The democratic process that we have adopted is not about physical fight, but it is a fight through the ballot papers and whoever scores well during the scrutiny and counting process wins,” he said.

“It’s a game — one has to win and one has to lose. If you are aggrieved by the outcome, you can always seek an intervention of the court.”

Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s Governor-General, Sir Bob Dadae, today accepted Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai’s recommendation to extend the date for the 2022 general election Return of Writs by two weeks.

The new date is August 12.

With three days remaining before the initial gazetted date of July 29, counting for more than half of the seats in the 118-seat Parliament is yet to be completed.

• READ MORE: Moresby police chief rejects call for capital curfew after election violence
• Commonwealth observers call for ‘urgent review’ of PNG electoral process
• PNG police arrest 18 suspects following election attacks in Port Moresby
• Armed PNG election supporters cause chaos in capital, attack bystanders
• Post-Courier editorial: Our capital Port Moresby our last stand for peace
• Other PNG election reports

The Office of the Governor-General issued a statement on the announcement this afternoon after a closed door deliberation.

“It would be impossible to complete all counting by Friday so I accept the extension by 14 days to 12th of August, 2022 at 4pm,” Sir Bob said.

“The extension will save time and resources and we avoid a failed election which will be costly to if we were to start all over again.”

The Electoral Commission has advised counting officials throughout the country to work in 24-hours shifts to complete counting.

Sinai informed the Governor-General of the circumstances that led to the decision which he said were based on:

• Financial constraints;
• The untimely death of Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil which had delayed the elections by a week;
• Logistic problems; and
• Election officials not turning up on time at their designated areas which had slowed the process.

According to Sinai, “special circumstances” warranted the extension of the Return of Writs and he has assured that the extension was within “the fifth anniversary of the day fixed for the return of writs for the previous general election… The extension of time seeks to avoid a failed election and is also intended to provide time to allow all the writs to be returned accordingly.”

The extension now means the initial date for Parliament to sit — August 4 — will now be moved to a later date pending the return of writs.

Republished by arrangement with Inside PNG.

Caretaker prime minister James Marape has retained his Tari-Pori seat as the first politician to be declared for Papua New Guinea’s 11th National Parliament with a landslide victory after the first count ended in Hela province.

Quality checks confirmed Marape scoring an absolute majority of 40,913 votes from the five local level governments in Tari-Pori.

Runner-up Justin Aluja Haiara polled 7226 votes and Benson Angore was third with 6477 votes.

• READ MORE: Other PNG election reports

Marape was declared member re-elect at 4.49pm Sunday in Tari by Tari-Pori Returning Officer Willie Kara.

Shedding a tear, Marape’s voice broke as he thanked the people of Tari-Pori for returning him for a fourth term in the Eleventh parliament.

“Thank you to my people of Tari-Pori, I want to thank my family for standing by me, especially my wife Rachael and my children,” he said.

Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai, when asked why counting was allowed in Tari-Pori ahead of other Highlands centres, said: “It was allowed as gazetted.”

Gazetted and approved
He said the decision to have Hela Province go to the polls and declare first was gazetted and approved.

But he did not answer questions on why the province started counting first while the other provinces were yet to poll, especially in the Highlands region.

Sinai gave a rundown of the schedule to date of what is happening around the country starting with the declaration of Hela and polling for Southern Highlands.

“In most parts of the country, polling was held according to the polling schedule,” he said.

“However, as has been the case in previous elections, and as is provided for by law, slight variations were necessary to enable polling teams to address local issues and ensure that polling takes place under the best conditions possible.”

Counting began for Hela Regional seat and Tari-Pori Open electorate on Friday and by Sunday afternoon, Marape was declared.

Declaring “I love Tari-Pori”, he wasted no time in promising his people that for the next five years, he wants unity and peace for Hela and he wants education to become the key focus of the district and province.

‘Lay down your arms’
Marape said he wanted more Hela people to become businessmen and women.

“Lay down your arms, work together for unity and peace, bring your children to school and become business oriented people to be financially independent,” he said.

“I will try my best not to let you down in the next five years.

“I want to work with whoever wins the Hela Regional person seat to deliver Hela into a new age of change.”

The counting for Tari-Pori was completed with quality checks done in Tari before noon.

Election manager John Tipa said once quality checks were completed, a formal announcement would be done.

He said the absolute majority for Tari-Pori was 30,635 plus one with Marape receiving 40,913 votes.

Meanwhile, Hela provincial police commander Superintendent Robin Bore said three Papua New Guinea Defence Force platoons with police mobile squad and local police officers were manning the counting venues in Tari-Pori.

Miriam Zarriga and Gorethy Kenneth are PNG Post-Courier reporters. Republished with permission.

The headline of this editorial, we believe, expresses what every eligible voter, business house and candidate in the nation’s capital feels towards the Electoral Commission of PNG.

To make a decision like this, the deferral of polling, at the very last minute on the day when this important event is to take place is absurd. it’s costly and creates an impression that our electoral process is dysfunctional in the eyes our citizens and the international community.

The explanation by the Election Manager for NCD (National Capital District), Kila Ralai, citing interference from candidates and their scrutineers on the deferral is very weak and doesn’t hold water.

• READ MORE: PNG’s capital residents shocked with second deferral of polling day
• Six charged with money laundering over K1.3 million in suitcase as PNG votes
• PNG leader Marape confirms son arrested over money in suitcase
• PNG security detain man with K1.56m in suitcase as elections begin
• ‘Nothing to do with me’: PNG leader distances himself from suitcase of cash
• Other PNG elections reports

He was quoted as saying: “Unfortunately in that process there was interference, by the candidates and the scrutineers who came to over-rule the administration of the electoral process, that has prolonged the election operations.”

However, he goes on further and says: “We need to maintain our integrity, we need to maintain that integrity and the efficient process of the elections, so that we can deliver the elections to our voters.

“It is not good that we will push when the systems are not in place when the process is not prepared, we need to have all these before we conduct elections for NCD.”

Our question is: So what systems are not in place and whose job is it to prepare so that the integrity of the election is maintained?

The excuse made for the initial deferral from July 4-6 and now from 6th to maybe 8th of July is completely unacceptable.

And we endorse the sentiments of NCD Governor Powes Parkop and many other candidates who said: “Securing counting venues and preparing polling officials, ballot boxes and ballot papers are basic outcomes that the Chief Electoral Commissioner and his staff should have sorted out well before the 4th or 6th of July.

“These are basic issues they ought to have templates and be experts in these areas by now.

This basic failure shows the highest level of incompetency and someone should be brought to account for this level of incompetency which is bordering on stupidity.”

This basic failure shows poor level of leadership, poor planning and total incompetency on the part of Chief Electoral Commissioner and his officers.

They ought to hang their heads in shame!

For our capital city to be continuously subjected to such basic problems is totally unacceptable! It reflects badly on the Electoral Commission, our capital city and our country.

The Electoral Commission had four years and then a number of weeks due to deferral of the Issue of Writs and then two more days and they are still unprepared.

PNG Post-Courier. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea went to the polls yesterday to begin electing the 11th national Parliament only to find out that there were names missing on the common roll while some polling stations were short of ballot papers around the country.

The distribution of ballot papers and the common roll update has been an issue over the past few months with the Electoral Commission continuing to provide assurance. But this was not the case yesterday.

In Lae, former four-term Lae MP Bart Philemon was turned away at his Butibam village polling booth because his name was not on the common roll.

• READ MORE: PNG elections and the economy: Marape vs O’Neill
• Other PNG election reports

Stefan Armbruster reports from Tari on the opening day of the PNG election.
Video: SBS News

“If this can happen in an urban village in Lae city, how can we be sure if people living in the vast remote areas around the country are casting their votes?,” he asked.

“Are they or will they exercise their fundamental democratic right which comes only after 5-years?”

Reports from other centres around the country included East New Britain, Central, Northern, Hela and Morobe provinces also facing the same issues yesterday.

Several locations in Central Province, voters had to argue with polling officials because their names were not on the common roll and these were the voters who had voted in the 2017 general election.

Central provincial police commander Superintendent John Midi confirmed that several commotions between voters and election officers had been reported at various locations in Hiri Koiari electorate.

Voting is underway in #PNG. @StefArmbruster is on the ground – covering his 3rd lot of elections. Bringing context & insight https://t.co/AKuXNW0OPK @GAIGriffith @SBSNews

— Dr Tess Newton Cain (@CainTess) July 4, 2022

‘Explain for peace’
“It is to due to ballot papers and voters which only the PNG Electoral Commission officials assigned to these areas have the powers to explain for peace among people during polling,” Superintendent Midi said.

Meanwhile, Philemon said the Electoral Commission had five years to update the common roll and to ensure that all eligible citizens were listed but it had failed the people of this country.

“I fail to understand the Electoral Commission failing its primary responsibility to update the roll,” he said.

The former MP said the Electoral Commission cannot in uncertain terms deny the fundamental democratic rights of its citizens to elect their leaders which falls every five years.

Philemon said the incompetency of public servants in the government workforce was a contributing factor not only to elections but other issues affecting health, education, transport infrastructure, law and order as well.

Frank Rai is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Voters will elect 118 members of parliament, including governors of the 22 provinces, from the 3,600-plus candidates nominated. https://t.co/9KrQ6tqIlF

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) July 4, 2022

The impartiality of officials who have been appointed to manage polling in the National Capital District during the Papua New Guinea general election next month has been questioned.

In a first of its kind meeting in Port Moresby yesterday, candidates, police and the election manager convened at the Sir John Guise stadium where issues such as impartiality, vote rigging, common roll and security were the biggest concerns.

The meeting comes on the back of the appointment of all Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) by the PNG Electoral Commission to conduct the national elections.

• READ MORE: Other PNG election reports

The list of appointees will be published by the Post-Courier tomorrow for readers’ information and comment.

Former Moresby North-west MP and now NCD regional candidate Michael Malabag, who was Health Minister in the outgoing government, questioned the appointment of five AROs who are engaged with the National Capital District Commission, claiming that this may influence the election process.

In response, NCD Election Manager Kila Ralai said the officials were public servants attached with the NCDC and that there was no intention to compromise the integrity of the election process.

“We have 16 AROs for NCD’s three open electorates and we have two APROs and that makes it 18 and out of those 18 AROs we have only five staff from NCDC as part of AROs to assist in these elections,” he clarified.

A petition is possible
“Because they are public servants in NCDC, likewise, if I was in East Sepik I would also have public servants as AROs.

“So in that process we only considered five out of a couple of applications from NCDC.”

However, Ralai added that if the candidates wished to apply for changes, they could present a petition which he would bring it to the Electoral Commissioner for further deliberation.

He also advised candidates that there would be issues with the common roll which should be ironed out after this election.

Another matter raised by NCD regional candidate Michael Kandiu was the transportation of ballot boxes from the polling stations to the counting venues.

He said there were allegations of foul play in the last two elections.

In this election he demanded transparent operations and better security.

No tinted police vehicles
“I want police to make sure that no ballot box is transported by any tinted police vehicle and it must be transported straight from the polling booth to the counting centre,” he said.

It was resolved that ballot boxes would be transported on open back vehicles straight from polling sites to counting venues.

The former Secretary for Department of Community Development and Religion, Anna Bais, who is contesting the Moresby Northwest Open, asked about the installment of CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras in all counting sites.

“We want CCTVs so we need to know if CCTVs can be put in here.

While government may say there is no money, we are willing to support,” said Bais.

Her call for CCTV linkages was supported by other candidates who offered to help with funds.

Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu explained that the manpower in the city included 200 recalled reservists and another 150 recently trained reservists who would join the regular police officers along with members of the PNG Defence Force.

Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s Common Roll, important for the voting population in the 2022 National General Elections next month, has a glaring loophole — it is incomplete.

It is inaccurate and not up to date.

Figures coming in from provinces paint a picture of incompetence, inconvenience and ineffectiveness, which will unfortunately result in a missed opportunity for millions of eligible voters whose names are not on the roll.

• READ MORE: Other PNG general election reports

Many of those who voted in 2002, 2007, and possibly 2017, will find that their names are not on the Common Roll in 2022 because an update of the roll, registration of new voters, started this year, ran out of steam.

While PNG Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai maintains more than 6 million voters will be eligible, it is not known at this stage which common roll will be used in 2022.

Three weeks to go before the polls and the accuracy of the Electoral Roll for the 2022 National General Election is now an issue, following revelation by provinces that many eligible voters were not registered.

According to a random check with several provinces, more than a million people were not registered and this number is expected to go up when all the figures of eligible voters that have not enrolled for various reasons are counted.

Shortage of funding, time
Officials in East Sepik, Milne Bay, National Capital District (NCD), Madang and Northern (Oro) provinces say insufficient enrollment forms, shortage of funding and lack of time were among the main factors that contributed to the failure to update the Electoral Roll properly.

“The Common (Electoral) Roll is the biggest issue with us at the moment. A large number of our voter population of almost 300,000 voters is not on the Common Roll,” East Sepik election manager James Piapia said.

In NCD, Assistant Election Manager Roselyn Tabogani confirmed that only 400,000 voters of almost a million were captured in the electoral roll.

“NCD was the last province to go out for enrollment. We did enrollment in the whole of March which is not enough.”

She confirmed reports from other provinces that there was not enough time for the Common Roll update teams to complete the exercise, leaving out thousands.

These provinces were joined by Northern and Milne Bay, whose officials confirmed that both budget and timing constraints limited their ability to update the electoral roll properly.

Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai announced recently that the Electoral Roll was completed and 6.2 million people were registered to cast their votes throughout the country.

Integrity of report in question
The revelation by the provinces has now thrown the integrity of the report into question, and this is not the first time the Electoral Roll was not updated properly to ensure every eligible voter in the country is given the right to vote.

In previous elections — for example in 2002, 2007 and 2012 — issues surrounding the Electoral Roll were observed and international election observers like the Commonwealth Observer Group reported serious flaws in the Electoral Roll.

“Significant issues with the voter registration process were an unfortunate feature of the 2017 National Election, with a large number of names missing from the electoral roll, the Commonwealth Group reported.

“That sufficient funding and equipment by allocated for the periodic and regular enrolment, updating, and cleansing of the electoral roll, at least once every 18 months and that permanent enrollment teams be employed at provincial levels to be managed by provincial election officers to travel across the electorate to record voter information and do it electronically and are adequately paid to do that job,” another observer group, the Pacific Islands Forum Election Observer team, recommended.

More than 1000 international observers were deployed in the country to observe the 2017 election and they reported that the shortcomings in the conduct of the 2017 elections were attributed to two major causes.

These, they said, were the late and inadequate disbursement of funds by the government to the PNGEC to carry out its work and significant delays in implementing electoral plans and preparatory work.

Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Any deferral of Papua New Guinea’s national general election 2022 will be unconstitutional, warns former Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato.

He said statutory timelines gazetted in the National Gazette for the national elections could not be breached to accommodate a deferral.

“It is important that the 2022 NGE is not deferred. Any idea about deferral will be unconstitutional,” Gamato said in a statement.

• READ MORE: Other PNG elections reports

“The Head of State must not be misled and asked to [make] unnecessary changes [to] dates for the activities within the electoral cycle.

“Should the Electoral Commission delay the issue of writ by two weeks, where will those two weeks come from?”

“All processes are allocated times by law especially nomination, polling, campaign period, polling and counting.

“The campaign period is eight weeks minimum and 12 weeks maximum including nomination period by law.

Campaign period
“Campaign period cannot be reduced if they want to borrow from the campaign period.

“If they allowed for a buffer at the end of the process [it] is okay but they cannot go past the fifth anniversary of the 10th Parliament (5 years term).”

Gamato said that when the Electoral Commissioner advised the Head of State to approve the dates for the next election event, it was final and they must go by those dates.

He said the Head of State cannot be misled and asked to change the dates of the elections every now and then.

“The national government and the EC had five years to prepare for the elections,” Gamato said.

“We need to manage the electoral budget well and spend according to the phases of electoral activities, with the view to controlling the budget.

“It is a requirement that polling schedules and the roll must be approved by the EC and gazetted in the National Gazette.

Programme strictly adhered to
“It must be strictly adhered to the planned electoral activities such as nominations, polling and counting so that voters are not confused.”

He said the two weeks could not come from the campaign period.

“By law, the campaign period must be held a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 11 weeks including the one week of nomination which brings to 12 weeks, you cannot change that allocated time,” he said.

“The term of the 10th National Parliament ends when the writs for the next election event are returned on or before the fifth anniversary of term.

“No government can conveniently try to extend the election to remain in office or in power after their term expires on the 5th anniversary of their term.’’

“The end of the fifth anniversary is the date the 10th Parliament [that] got sworn in 2017,” he said.

“Observing the statutory timelines are critical, especially when managing a major election event such as this.

“Funding in my view is sufficiently allocated by the national government.

“The EC just [has] to manage and work within the budget.”

The Papua New Guinea general election 2022 runs from Saturday, June 11, to Friday, June 24.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s general election will go ahead as planned in June with CCTV (closed circuit television) to monitor counting, says Prime Minister James Marape.

He has announced “several reforms” that will be included in election monitoring this year.

“For purposes of transparency, we will have Transparency International, National Research Institute and civil society representation in the Elections Planning Committee,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG general elections reports

“We will have separate voting queues for men and women to cast their votes without undue influence, as in the past.

“It is the right of voters to make their choice based on their God-given wisdom — not on inducements, bribery, cash, food, wantok system or hype.

“We will have CCTV used for counting to make the elections fair and friendly for all.”

Reports reaching the Post-Courier indicated that Parliament would decide in the last session before the elections for deferral of elections by six months or 12 months in order to accommodate for the new electorates recently set up and approved in the last session of Parliament.

Last session
The last session will be the third week of April.

But the PNG Electoral Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office have brushed aside these reports, saying they were not true.

The commission said the 2022 National General Election was ready to go and that preparations throughout the country, although slow, were on track for the issue of writs on April 28.

Also, the ballot papers for the elections have arrived in Port Moresby over the weekend from Australia.

Australia printed 12 million of the country’s ballot papers at a cost of K10 million (US$2.8 million) to be used in the NGE 2022 as announced by Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai early last month.

The papers are now being guarded by a 24-hour police security operation which has been mounted at a location where the papers are being kept.

The indelible ink to be used during polling will arrive in the country this weekend, an indication that election will go ahead as planned.

PM Marape said there would also be severe penalties imposed on election officials who engage in “improper and illegal conduct” during elections.

The elections are scheduled from June 18.

Gorethy Kenneth is a Post-Courier senior reporter. Republished with permission.

Only seven governors out of Papua New Guinea’s 21 provinces and Bougainville attended a meeting in the capital Port Moresby to discuss issues surrounding the covid-19 pandemic crisis and the National General Elections due next year.

However, while Prime Minister James Marape confirmed seven had attended, only four were counted at the event. They were NCD Governor Powes Parkop, Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, Chimbu Governor Michael Dua and Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta.

The meeting on Thursday was held with Health Minister Jelta Wong and Secretary Dr Osbourne Liko to discuss the covid-19 crisis with the vaccine roll out also on the agenda.

• READ MORE: ‘We don’t have any grasp’: Covid-19 crisis pushes PNG hospitals to the brink

At least 10,997 cases have been recorded in Papua New Guinea with 107 deaths and the nation’s health system has been severely stretched. Less than 1 percent of the population of almost 9 million have been vaccinated.

Issues have been raised about the lack of cohesion over covid policy between the national government and provinces.

Discussions were also held with Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai about plans for next year, and how the provinces will prepare for the ballot.

Poor turnout
But, the poor turnout of governors as they face various hardships back in their provinces raised concerns about how aligned the government’s strategy will be implemented.

The Post-Courier spoke to the West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel who said: “I was aware of the meeting but needed to travel back home for launching of several projects.”

He added that he needed to discuss the vaccination roll out with provincial officials as they had received doses just last week.

West Sepik Governor Tony Wouwou told the Post-Courier that he was not even informed that such a meeting was taking place.

Marape said moving forward the provinces would be empowered to “tailor make” their solutions, as the government will not micromanage.

He urged all provinces to provide their own response plan to the government as a uniformed approach is not possible given the unique sets of challenges facing each province.

Thierry Lepani is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

Former Papua New Guinea prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta has strongly criticised “foreign governments and organisations”, singling out Australia, for their assessments of the 2017 PNG national election.

Sir Mekere accused them of “whitewashing the rigging and corruption associated with it”.

He was reacting to shocking revelations in independent election reports published by the Australian National University and Transparency International.

READ MORE: The rigging of the 2017 election – money, politics and corruption

“The ANU report and the report of TI PNG stand out in stark contrast to the remarks made by some foreign governments and in other observer reports of the 2017 election,” he said.

“While those other observers noted irregularities, mostly with the electoral roll, they failed to expose the widespread abuse, violence, intimidation and rigging that voters experienced.”

A former Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea, Sir Arnold Amet, today condemned the actions of the beleagured Electoral Commissioner in calling on the Governor-General to invite incumbent Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to form a government without the elections counting having been completed.

Commissioner Patilias Gamato took this controversial step with the Governor-General, Sir Bob Dadae, while 23 out of the 111 seats in Parliament were still undeclared.

Sir Arnold, himself an unsuccessful candidate in the elections having stood for Sumkar Open, said the commissioner’s move was “principally wrong and premature”.

“By yesterday afternoon 23 writs had not been returned because counting was still progressing,” Sir Arnold wrote on his Facebook page.

“The Electoral Commissioner had the responsibility to seek a further extension to allow those 23 electorates’ counting to be completed and for their writs to returned first before he determined which party returned the most nominated candidates to advise the GG to issue the letter of invitation.

“As we now understand the nation is grateful to the Ombudsman Commission for the brave and responsible initiative to go to the Supreme Court to obtain the order to extend the return of writs to Monday.”

From a practical legal perspective, the Supreme Court order meant that the Electoral Commissioner must return all the remaining writs before it is determined which party has the strongest support,” Sir Arnold wrote.

“That may still be PNC [O’Neill’s People’s National Congress]. That is not the issue. The EC had misapplied [his] responsibility and it was wrong and we, the nation, [are] pleased that the OC took the initiative to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court.

Sir Arnold appealed to Gamato to “not keep abusing and misapplying the law”.

Gamato was been widely condemned for the conduct of the elections.

• More PNG election stories
• Keith Jackson’s analysis of a political ‘coup’

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

A Papua New Guinean judge has called on election candidates disputing ballot boxes to follow procedures before “running to the courts” for rulings while Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has admitted that the electoral rolls were a major problem in this month’s general election.

Counting was continuing today for most of the 111 seats in the National Parliament.

Justice Collin Makail, when dealing with a number of election-related matters, said most candidates overlooked s153(a) of the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government elections when disputing ballot boxes during counting, Loop PNG reports.

He told parties involved in two matters disputing ballot boxes in counting in the Hela regional seat, from Koroba-Lake Kopiago area, and the Lae Open seats, to go back, consult the respective returning officers and object over the use of the disputed ballot boxes.

Justice Makail said such cases should not take up the court’s time, especially when that process was still available to them to follow before running to the court.

For the case involving disputed ballot boxes from the Koroba-Lake Kopiago seat, Hela Regional seat candidate Dr Hewali Hamiya filed an urgent application to ask the court to restrain 32 disputed ballot boxes from being counted.

At the time the matter went before the court, the Hela Regional Seat had 94 ballot boxes left for counting.

32 disputed boxes
Dr Hamiya was trying to get the court to stop the 32 disputed boxes from being counted, alleging that they were filled out by Electoral Commission officials somewhere in Tari and were not taken from the designated polling area.

His lawyer wanted the court to issue orders against the boxes from being counted and remain locked.

Justice Makail declined such a ruling, saying the provision of s153(a) of the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government elections remained “unexhausted” and parties must follow that first in disputing ballot boxes.

Prime Minister O’Neill admitted that the electoral roll had been a major problem during the general election, The National reports.

He agreed with many of the criticisms made by the Commonwealth Observer Group about the common roll.

‘Nothing to do with government’
“It is a list that has been updated by the Electoral Commission and has nothing to do with the government,” he said.

“The commission is an independent body. The government supported the common roll update and it is quite disappointing to us that the lists were not in order.

“That is why we, as government, explicitly appealed to the Electoral Commission that they should use the 2012 roll, together with the preliminary roll, so that Papua New Guineans can vote.”

Despite that, he commended how the election has been conducted.

O’Neill witnessed the declaration of Justin Tkatchenko as the Moresby-South MP at the Kilakila Secondary School by returning officer Michael Are.

He said the return of Tkatchenko showed the “people’s faith” in the ruling People’s National Congress government.

• More PNG election stories

OPINION: By Gary Juffa, Governor of Oro and a candidate in the PNG general election

Papua New Guinea’s incoming government must put a list of urgent 100 days agendas to attend to immediately upon taking office and put the necessary resources to address them and an effective management system of monitoring, review and redirection.

Right up there on that list  must be a diagnostic review of the 2017 national elections.

Basically this review will highlight what happened, what went wrong, why, who was responsible and what needs to happen to improve and ensure a democratic transparent effective election in 2022 so that the people’s constitutional rights to elect their parliamentary

Here was my experience this week:

On Wednesday, I voted at Iora, Kokoda. But only after some time.

Yes, my name was not on the Electoral Roll 2017. Even though I had made sure my details were updated. Even though I checked the website and it had my name listed and at the location and yet on Wednesday I was not on the 2017 Roll.

I was finally allowed to vote because I was a candidate as per provisions of the law that allowed for this. In other words, if I could not vote because I was not on the 2017 Electoral Roll that would be a blatant and very explicit fact showing that the 2017 rolls were not effectively updated.

Others should vote too
I asked if others can vote too since that was only fair. Since the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, who was also not on the 2017 roll was allowed to vote and I was allowed to vote, why couldn’t every other person who had voted in 2012 and before be allowed to vote.

I was informed by polling officials that they were instructed that only the 2017 Electoral Roll was to be used and not the 2012 electoral roll or the preliminary roll.

I spoke to many frustrated and angry people who declared that they had made sure their names were updated and yet they were not on the 2017 roll and thus unable to vote.

From my discussions it could be concluded that in some instances more then 40 percent of the people were turned away in some areas and in some areas even higher numbers with percentages as high as 70 percent quoted by observers and scrutineers.

Some of the stories they told were simply infuriating and one can only be bitterly aware that this People’s National Congress (PNC) government led by Peter O’Neill does not care for the people of Papua New Guinea.

Many who found their names were not in one area had to travel a fair distance to other stations to search for their names to vote. In the case of the aged and elderly, mothers who had young children to tend to or those with disabilities and those with no financial means, this was too much. How sad.

Many found the polling officials unhelpful and barely aware of their duties and functions. I noted several young high school students who had no prior work experience.

Wide open to electoral fraud
Meanwhile, the process was so wide open for electoral fraud that it would be so easy for those with some intent and planning to be able to commit electoral fraud with much ease and little chance of detection or deterrence.

Many claimed that the process of updating the roll was hindered simply because papers for recording this process “ran out”.

Not a few expressed anger that people who had no experience and qualifications and some of dubious character had been engaged to do this and some had not even bothered to go out to do their work. The work itself was so poorly coordinated that it could not be described in anyway as being “effective”.

One such person was chased and stoned today in Kokoda when sighted as he had been responsible for a significant percentage of voters being turned away.

Several of my aged aunts and uncles were visibly sad and angry as they were unable to exercise their democratic right to vote. One told me that they felt that this may be their last time to be able to vote and yet they could not vote even though they had voted ever since PNG attained independence on 16 September 1975.

In fact, many of the people in Papua New Guinea who had voted since Independence were unable to vote for the first time in their life. Many were frustrated and sad. This was a huge negative psychological experience for them

It is apparent to many that the ruling PNC and O’Neill are arrogant and totally inconsiderate of the people of Papua New Guinea to exercise their democratic right to elect their representatives into Parliament.

If they were not, they would have done everything possible to ensure that this election was not such a failure.

• Other PNG election stories
• School orders Electoral Commission out for classes – holiday extended
• Papua New Guinea elections end
• From ‘anticipation, excitement’ to dictatorship fears in PNG election

I suspect that these Papua New Guinea elections have been so deliberately set to fail, leaving much room for fraud and confusion, that we will be distracted from what is really going on – the establishment of a dictatorship.

Already Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has his own special police unit that flies around Papua New Guinea escorting him in his private airlines, he has a special army unit of 40 exclusively for his callout, he controls the media and Public Service.

And, it seems, the Police and Defence commands — and perhaps the judiciary … the signs and red flags are blinking bright red now…

Yet many people do not see it at all. We are inching closer towards dictatorship and the ensuing bloodshed and violence that must come from the hostility towards it. But like lemmings and sheep, we are led to that reality with little resistance at all. Is this the Papua New Guinea we all believed in once upon a time?

Last Wednesday in Oro province provided a demonstration of how much the PNG government is not for PNG. It was also a demonstration of how democracy should not work.

For instance, the majority — between a third and a half — of Popondetta Urban voting age citizens have not voted because the current common roll does not have their names. Many citizens claim they had made the effort to update their details and were still turned away.

Preliminary roll ‘okay’
Meanwhile, Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato has advised that the preliminary roll can be used. This means he indirectly agrees that the EC failed to effectively update the 2017 roll. This instruction was obviously not made known to Electoral Commission officials managing the polling at the Independence Oval on Wednesday.

Many people who had taken time out and had travelled to vote were turned away angry and anxious. This election was certainly costing them. They will have to come back for the last day, but the slowness will probably ensure that a large group will not have been processed by the end of the polling at 4pm.

This will mean that democracy certainly did not prevail in this instance. In fact, many will probably agree that come the end of these elections, democracy was hardly a reality everywhere in Papua New Guinea.

This should hardly be a surprise given that we have actually endured a covert dictatorship and hardly realised it.

Own effort
Meanwhile, not a few of the learned are saying that everyone should have made their own effort to ensure they were registered.

A true statement we all would like to agree with. I was tempted to think this way too. Then I thought of my people in rural PNG. My uncles and aunts who do not read or write and are at once the greatest selfless humans I know and, despite whatever people think, are equal shareholders of this great nation, Papua New Guinea.

They too deserve to vote. They too deserve to be informed. They too have the right to be given the opportunity to decide whether they want to update their details on the common role or not.

May I just say to all my learned friends making such statements as “it’s your fault if you are not on the roll; stop whinging”, that this would be true if the awareness programme had been been carried out sufficiently and it would be true in a society which is totally literate and where means of communication are available to all, a society that, say, had more then just 40 years or so as an independent nation of 1000 tribes with their own language groupings and cultural peculiarities.

Such statements are also spiteful about our people. Many of our people who live in rural PNG do not have access to the benefits of technology and modern services and goods that you may have had and may have now.

Our people, remember them? Well some of these are the people who will adore you and feed you and love you selflessly when or should you ever go home for a visit from time to time.

It would also be a safe statement to make if Papua New Guinea were governed by a government which allowed information access for all. A government that made funding available for provincial governments and relevant information dissemination entities like the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).

Government by the people
Of course, that would have to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people …which this government clearly is not, if any of its decisions made in the last five years are anything to go by.

It is clear that the Electoral Commission failed. But the commission is not entirely to be blamed because, the buck stops at the top, and that’s the People’s National Congress (PNC) government of Peter O’Neill.

They have totally failed in the last five years to ensure that everyone was on the roll.

The awareness programme was an abysmal failure. Rural Papua New Guinea especially had virtually no knowledge of this. That’s 85 percent of PNG.

Adequately informed
Were our people adequately informed? They were not.

The Electoral Commission had five years to do this. It failed.

Just as it did with the K200 million national identity (NID) project. Deliberately too, it appears.

This government failed. Peter O’Neill failed

The 2017 Elections are looking very much like a failure.

A planned failure, perhaps … it has to be.

Sipping champagne
From the PNC government’s perspective, maybe they are chuckling and sipping champagne and congratulating each other on a job well done. Chaos provides opportunities for those who plan it to. Who knows?

Meanwhile in stark contrast, preparations for APEC seem to be going on very well. Surprise, surprise. Funding is abundantly available and preparatory meetings, plans, strategies and training and capacity testing efforts are well in progress. Not a few MPs whose companies will be involved in various services needed have already picked up hefty contracts.

So obviously the government can do a great job. If it suits them.

Ask yourself, is APEC more important then the democratic rights of a people to elect their leaders to represent their interests in Parliament?

This just shows how much the PNC government cares for its people. How much? In my measure, it was so weak and poor an effort, so pathetic, it was “zilch”.

Gary Juffa’s commentaries are frequently published by Asia Pacific Report with permission. This commentary is a combination of two of his latest pieces.

• More PNG election stories

Papua New Guinea’s Lae Metropolitan Police Superintendent Anthony Wagambie Jnr has confirmed that ballot papers were burnt at the University of Technology (Unitech) polling booth within the campus.

He said the destruction of ballot papers was an offence and any issues relating to shortage of ballot papers or common roll issues would be addressed by the Assistant Returning Officer and Returning Officer of the PNG Electoral Commission.

Two prime suspects have been apprehended by police in Lae while one is still being sought. His identity is known to the police.

The two suspects had got on a 25-seater bus parked outside the campus with a large group of people.

Police monitored them and a Mobile Squad Unit and Sector Patrol Unit intercepted them along the speedway, and then escorted the bus with the occupants to Lae police station.

The two suspects were identified and have been detained for further questioning.

They are from Southern Highlands and Hela provinces, while the third suspect is from Enga province.

Claimed to be students
The suspects claimed to be students while one claimed to be a former student who graduated recently and is now employed by the university. The university administration has not confirmed this.

The 25-seater bus has also been grounded at the Lae police station while the driver and crew are being questioned.

Unitech was given only 1100 ballot papers for a voting population of more than 5000 while the University in Goroka (UOG) voting population of between 4000 to 5000 was denied aa chance to cast a ballot.

UOG was never gazetted as a polling venue even though the Eastern Highlands provincial election manager included it in his recommendation to the Chief Electoral Commissioner.

At the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) at Gerehu, Port Moresby, voting did not take place because of a lack of ballots, Asia Pacific Report’s special campus correspondent reported. Only 1200 ballot papers arrived from the Electoral Commission instead of the expected 5000 and there were many complaints about the absence of names on the rolls of people who had registered.

National Capital District (NCD) Elections Manager Terence Hetinu and his assistant Roslyn Tobogani have been removed and replaced with new officers for today’s polling after both had been caught on Tuesday reportedly in possession of large sums of money and a document signed between Hetinu and a Port Moresby candidate.

Although Electoral Commissioner Patilas Gamato defended his staff, saying the money was for the payment of election officials, Port Moresby police said they would continue a full investigation after the elections and lay charges.

Commissioner Gamato has appointed two senior electoral officials as replacements —  Provincial Election Manager Alwin Jimmy as the new NCD Election Manager, and Kavanamur Bale as Assistant Manager.

Candidates demand removal
Gamato announced the appointments when he met with candidates at Electoral Commission headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

The candidates in Port Moresby had petitioned Gamato, demanding the removal of Hetinu and  Tobogani after they were detained by police on Tuesday.

While police searched Hetinu’s car, they also found an agreement signed between a Port Moresby Regional Seat candidate and the then NCD Election Manager.

New election manager Jimmy assured the media, Port Moresby candidates, voters in Port Moresby and the people of Papua New Guinea that today’s NCD election would go ahead as scheduled.

Although only one day into his new job, he said he would make sure he delivered a successful polling day for Port Moresby.

He also apologised to the people of Papua New Guinea about what had happened.

Another elections twist
In another elections twist, the Electoral Commission office has reportedly more than K36 million (about NZ$15.4 million) owing to its suppliers from the last general election in 2012. Those suppliers were reportedly not paid.

Gamato said he was aware of the outstanding payments and had put the claims through the government payment system.

In Goroka, polling in rural areas has been delayed because the helicopter company hired to dispatch ballot papers and officials to the designated polling areas wanted payments paid upfront before airlifting the ballot papers and officials to the sites.

Goroka rural voters are still waiting for the ballot papers to arrive for polling while polling in areas with road access have been completed.

Peter S. Kinjap is an Asia Pacific Report contributor.

• ‘We crossed 11 rivers’
• More PNG election stories

Papua New Guinea’s general election has been rocked with many disruptions, the cancellation of the capital Port Moresby’s one-day polling, and the arrest of four senior election officers for carrying K185,000 (NZ$80,000) in cash and “suspicious” documents.

Electoral Commissioner Patalias Gamato vowed he would not resign in the face of a barrage of criticism, Loop PNG reports.

The National newspaper reports that the four were questioned but later released because police had to first obtain arrest warrants from the court.

National Capital District-Central police commander Assistant Commissioner Sylvester Kalaut was quoted by the newspaper as saying they have not been charged but may be re-arrested.

The drama began around dawn on Tuesday when election workers, who had been “camping” all night to prepare for the one-day polling in the three electorates in the National Capital District (NCD), decided to stage a protest strike because they had not been paid their “camping” allowance.

Commissioner Gamato, after consulting NCD Election Manager Terence Hetinu and police, deferred polling until tomorrow.

People who had arrived early at the various polling stations were told to return on Friday.

Cash for the workers
Then Hetinu, according to Gamato, who was bringing the cash to pay the workers, was brought in by police to brief them on the polling cancellation.

Officers became suspicious and arrested him when they found the large amount of cash in his vehicle.

In an unrelated event later, according to Kalaut, police officers arrested three other election officials in front of the Boroko Electoral Commission office allegedly trying to transport election-related materials in an official vehicle but without any official police escort.

“We have questioned and released them. We have to obtain a warrant of arrest to charge them for the relevant offences under the Criminal Code,” Kalaut said.

Kalaut said Hetinu would be questioned later on “correspondence” police allegedly found between him and a candidate.

Gamato said he would consider disciplinary action against Hetinu if he was found to be in contact with NCD candidates, The National reports.

On the cash Hetinu was carrying around, Gamato said: “We had made arrangements to organise payments for camping allowances. He was carrying that cash around when police picked him up.

3000 Port Moresby election workers
“Police also questioned me and I said I was aware of that.”

More than 3000 election workers had been engaged by the commission for polling and counting in Port Moresby.

Gamato agreed that it was “not normal” for someone to be carrying such a large amount of money around Port Moresby but “that cash was made available as soon as possible in the morning”.

Gamato said there was a system in place for election managers to pay election workers, based on the list of names provided.

• More PNG election stories
• PNG election official arrested hours after voting suspended in capital

Gamato was grilled by reporters during a media conference in Port Moresby but remained defiant.

Since polling began on Saturday in the country, many negative reports have been made public, reports Loop PNG’s Cedric Patjole.

Among them was the late start of polling teams, resulting in fewer votes being cast and people and students being turned away due to missing names, despite registering earlier this year.

The deferral of polling in the National Capital District (NCD) – Port Moresby — from Tuesday until this Friday, the ousting and detention of the NCD Election Manager and several polling officials over suspected electoral breaches has put more pressure on the Commissioner.

Responding to a barrage of questions, Gamato was eventually asked if he would step down — and he promptly replied: “I don’t think I’ll have to resign. I’ll have to conduct these polls.”

Ten candidates contesting seats in the NCD have called on Gamato to resign and for the Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Kala Moro, to assume office.

They accused Gamato of being incompetent and that he had compromised his position, Patjole reported.

Gamato told the candidates that he would prepare a formal response to them.

In a separate story, Loop PNG reports the Electoral Commission today replaced NCD Election Manager Terence Hetinu and his assistant Roslyn Tabogani.

Alvin Jimmy was named as replacement, assisted by Bale Kavanamur.

• Other PNG election stories

Is history repeating itself for the Moresby North West electorate in the Papua New Guinean general election?

In 2012, polling was deferred to a day after the scheduled date for this electorate.

This year, polling has been deferred once more. However, this time, it is affecting all electorates of the National Capital District (NCD).

Current NCD Governor Powes Parkop recalls the 2012 elections.

“In terms of the counting, I was the last to be declared. When [Prime Minister] Peter O’Neil was elected as the Prime Minister, I was not yet a Member of Parliament. It’s like a bad dream coming back,” he says.

Yesterday, the Electoral Commissioner declared this Friday, June 30, as the rescheduled date for NCD polling.

This however may cause inconvenience to many voters and in the case of contesting candidates, be stressful in terms of resources and going through the agony of how the voting will go on.

Expensive for rival groups
Rival candidate Robert Agen said the deferral would be expensive for all parties. But he still welcomed the decision.

“We’re trying to bring our nation forward, so everybody must follow the rule of law and election is one of the democratic process that needs to be followed properly,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is a window period under the law in which to deliver the election, after which the election can be termed as a failed election.

Parkop said the Electoral Commissioner was the only person authorised to announce a new date to vote as long as it fell within that set window period. As was the case in 2012.

“The law is very clear, you have to deliver the election within a period of time. The courts or the NEC cannot interfere in the electoral process – nobody except the Chief Electoral commissioner and his officers.”

Gloria Bauai is a Loop PNG reporter.

• More PNG general election stories

By Eric Haurupma in Port Moresby

With Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District (NCD) polling set to begin today, the challenge is on how election officials will conclude the polling successfully in one day.

This is because of the vast majority of people from different ethnic groups living in the city who will take the time to cast their votes.

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato who has been wary of this situation, is confident of delivering a successful polling day for NCD.

READ MORE: NCD deferred voting – ‘It’s like a bad dream coming back’

Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari speaking during the security and election deployment briefing yesterday told media that a metropolitan city like Port Moresby was difficult to manage during polling.

Lupari said this was because NCD had a majority of people from different ethnic groups across the country who would turn-up for polling.

This was something the electoral commission, particularly Commissioner Patilias Gamato, had been aware of.

Gamato said polling in NCD required extra manpower and security personnel to deliver polling safely.

NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Benjamin Turi said NCD police would tighten security to make sure the city was safe during polling today.

Eric Haurupma is an EMTV News journalist who studied at the University of Papua New Guinea, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations.

• More PNG election stories