The Southern Highlands capital — Mendi — has turned into a battlefield in Papua New Guinea this week as supporters of different candidates for the regional seat went on a warpath.

The warring parties –– believed to be supporters of the incumbent governor against the other regional candidates –– shut down the town on Thursday and during the mayhem, raided the Mendi police station and set fire to regional ballot papers.

Police Commissioner David Manning directed police in Mendi to arrest one of the candidates who was suspected of being behind the problems in Mendi and the counting.

Manning said he had ordered the arrest of the candidate following the ransacking of the Mendi police station in which the remaining ballot boxes for the provincial seat were removed from the containers and burned to ashes.

“I have directed the apprehension of the candidate [named] for questioning in relation to the incident at the police station,” Commissioner Manning said.

The mayhem was the culmination of frustration that have been built over weeks into the on-again off-again counting of the regional ballots that has dragged on for weeks since counting started in mid-July.

Southern Highlands police confirmed that allegations over electoral fraud by counting officials have led to frequent disruptions and the PNG Electoral Commission must take a stand on this.

‘Constitutional terrorists’
“The Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai needs to clarify if the candidates should go to court to obtain a court order or not to stop the provincial returning officer from counting the disputed ballot boxes,” provincial police commander Superintendent Daniel Yangen said.

Superintendent Yangen joined candidates Peter Nupuri, Benard Kaku and Augustine Rapa in Mendi who are accusing the EC and its official on the ground in Mendi for the turmoil.

Nupiri asked Sinai to replace the election manager, Jimmy Alwynn, to take charge of the counting.

Prime Minister James Marape condemned the burning of the ballot papers, describing those involved as “constitutional terrorists” who would be hunted down by the police.

“Those responsible are not ordinary arsonists but constitutional terrorists who can enter a police station and burn ballot boxes containing the votes of the people,” Marape said.

“This is state property and such an act is one of terrorism,” he said, adding that he had asked the police to go into Mendi, conduct the investigation and arrest those responsible.

He said people in PNG cannot continue to take the law into their own hands and his government would strengthen the police and justice system.

“I will, in the first instance, ensure that Southern Highlands Province, Hela, Enga and other hotspots are attended to at the very earliest,” Marape said.

Ialibu Pangia’s Peter O’Neill blamed the chaos in Mendi on the government.

‘Government-made shambles’
“This election has been a government-made shambles everywhere and democracy has been hijacked to make way for an autocratic style of leadership,” he said.

“I do not condone the violence in Mendi but I can certainly understand why it is happening.

“People are fed up with the way democracy has been cast aside by a power hungry few hellbent on seeking control at the expense of the people.”

O’Neill urged the Electoral Commissioner to reassert himself and take control of the Mendi counting room and ensure a fair outcome for the voters and candidates.

The destruction of the ballot papers has put an abrupt halt to the counting, which was heading into the elimination rounds.

Sinai will decide either to treat the Mendi situation as a “special circumstance” and declare the leading candidate as the winner or order a supplementary byelection.

“I will make a decision once I have gone through the report on the incident,” Sinai.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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.

“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.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz