Opposition Leader Namah pledges to privatise all Govt-owned enterprises
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Opposition Leader Namah pledges to privatise all Govt-owned enterprises
PORT MORESBY: Opposition Leader and Vanimo Green MP
Beldan Namah has made a General Election 2022 (GE22) pledged to get the Government
out of commercial investments and businesses, and focus on making laws and
policies.
The PNG Party leader
said in a media statement yesterday (June 23, 2022) that he would privatize all
State-owned enterprises if he got to form the Government after GE22.
“We will (stop) the
Government (from participating) in resource projects and let the landowners and
local businesses involved in them,” he added.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below a few GE22 news updates as published by The National:
Namah eyes
privatisation of govt firms
June 24, 2022The NationalMain Stories
Namah, the leader of the PNG Party, said in a statement yesterday that he would
privatise all State-owned enterprises if he forms the next government.
“We will (stop) the government (from participating) in resource projects and
let the landowners and local businesses involved in them,” he said.
“We will engage in massive agricultural expansion with plantation estates of
all major cash crops, and have our extensive small growers as out-growers or
feeder farmers for the estates.
“This will ensure seamless integration, guaranteed quality and quantity and
reliable long-term markets.”
Namah said he preferred an export-driven economy rather than “import-driven as
we are today.”
He urged voters to put his party into power “for change”.
“All my candidates, except myself, are new faces,” he said.
Namah endorsed Lucas Dawa Dekena for the Gumine Open seat in Chimbu.
“I have promised the nation change,” he said.
Police must approve political gatherings
Quick Response Force
members at a checkpoint at Kagamuga, Western Highlands, on Wednesday. – Picture
supplied
POLICE must approve
all political rallies and gatherings in Western Highlands to contain the
incidents of violence, says Eastern End divisional commander Assistant Police
Commissioner Rigga Neggi.
He said all events in Mt Hagen must be approved by provincial police commander
Inspector Joe Puri.
This follows the trouble which developed on Tuesday between supporters of two
candidates.
“The situation could have escalated but the quick response from the Quick
Response Force contained it,” he said.
“We have stepped up our special security operations, and road blocks will be
conducted to prevent such behaviours.”
Neggi said police found out that the fight began when supporters of a candidate
during a rally at the Pope John Paul Oval stoned a vehicle that belonged to a
supporter of another candidate. He said it was alleged that supporters of a
candidate ambushed people attending the rally at Kalakai along the Okuk Highway
outside Mt Hagen.
They also torched a vehicle.
Chief Supt Joseph Tondop said the 2022 General Election was a time for people
to exercise their right to elect leaders of the their choice without fear or
favour, and such behaviour should stop.
Safety of children in rallies a concern:
Official
CHILDREN are exposed
to harm and risks when they are used by candidates during political rallies,
according to Save the Children country director Fiu Williame-Igara.
“We’re concerned about the impact on children’s protection, education and
overall well-being,” she said.
“When they are made to be involved in election-related rallies or campaigns,
the harm caused to them can be volatile.”
Fiu said children being used by politicians during the rallies and campaigning
“risk being exposed to violence, alcohol consumption”. “(There are) threats to
their personal safety,” she said.
“They need to be (taken) out of harm’s way.
“Save the Children is calling on politicians, parents and caregivers to be more
responsible and vigilant, to ensure that children are kept safe.” There have
been reports of children used during campaigns by candidates around the
country.
In addition, a grade eight student died after being attacked during a campaign
rally in Lae last weekend.
Candidates for Finschhafen want RO changed
A GROUP of candidates contesting the
Finschhafen Open seat in Morobe will petition the Electoral Commission to
replace the returning officer (RO) it recently appointed.
The 26 candidates in a meeting in Lae yesterday drew up the petition to be
presented to the Electrol Commission (EC) to reinstate the RO appointed earlier.
A notice from the EC dated June 20 to Morobe election manager Simon Soheke
directed the revocation of the appointment of the first RO, Esia Batu.
Commissioner Simon Sinai then, under Section 19 (1) of the Organic Law on
Provincial and Local Level Government elections, appointed Kawage Mesere as the
new RO for Finschhafen.
A spokesman for the candidates, Ken Zilong, said the appointment of Batu was
legal.
“If the revocation of Batu as the RO for Finschhafen is to be effected, then it
has to be legal,” Zilong said.
“And there must be a genuine reason for it to happen.”
He said the notice from Sinai failed to give a reason for the revocation of
Batu’s appointment.
“This is why we are saying that the revocation of Batu as the RO for
Finschhafen is invalid,” he said.
Fellow candidate Boas Sengi said the appointment of Mesere was done in the
eleventh hour before polling, which was illegal.
“This simply means that election in the district will be a failed one,” Sengi
said.
Candidate Waliong Wamung said they were giving Sinai 48 hours to 4.06pm Friday,
June 24, to respond.
“If the response to our petition is negative, we will boycott polling in the
district,” he said.
Materials arrive in provinces
June 24, 2022The NationalMain Stories
ELECTION-sensitive materials, including ballot papers and boxes have slowly been arriving in provinces but there are concerns that eligible voters will be missing out.
While election managers for Southern Highlands, Madang, Manus and Bougainville had all noted a 15 per cent increase in enrolled voters, East Sepik election manager James Piapia had voiced concerns that a large group would be missing out because of a cap placed by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Attempts to reach Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai were unsuccessful, however, an official with the EC explained that due to lack of time and funding availability, updates could only be made to the existing 2017 roll database.
Based on a predicted annual population growth rate of three per cent of the last five years, common rolls updates would only focused on or account for 15 per cent of eligible voters, especially those that turned 18 when writs were issued this May.
Piapia told The National that he was positive that there were more voters recorded this year, but felt that the cap placed on only 15 per cent to enrol voters was insufficient to accurately capture the youth population in the province.
“When we were updating the common roll, there were insufficient enrolment papers to capture new eligible voters, so I don’t think people were too happy,” he said.
Piapia confirmed that they received 171 packages filled with ballot papers for the provincial and open seat on Tuesday and other materials like ballot boxes would arrive tomorrow.
Referring to the recent incident in Wewak, he said that the situation was now under control.
“We are all ready and set to go; all 28 assistant returning officers (AROs) were gazetted on Monday and trained for polling and counting last week so we’re just waiting on other materials to arrive and for our schedule to be gazetted by the EC,” Piapia said.
Madang election manager Sponsa Navi confirmed that he and his team received around 46,000 ballot papers on Tuesday with boxes to arrive by ship over the weekend.
Morobe will see over 2,000 officials conduct
polling
MORE than 2,000
polling officials are ready and looking forward to conduct polling after next
week in Morobe’s 10 districts and 34 local level governments (LLGs).
Provincial election manager Simon Soheke said 2975 officials would be involved
in polling starting July 4.
“There will be 425 polling teams with seven officials in each team,” he said.
Soheke said the teams would be sent to different wards and polling areas to
conduct polling.
“They would be using different mode of transportation to reach polling areas,
considering the challenges in communication, transportation, accessibility and
geography,” he said.
“We have second plan and if officials need to walk, they’ll doso.
“Officials have agreed to walk, and we discussed to give incentives to those
who would be walking to conduct polling.
“We will need chopper, but there are problems with choppers currently in the
country.”
Soheke said the province was allocated four choppers to be shared with Eastern
Highlands, Madang and Central.
“But this is not enough,” he said.
Soheke said the one-day polling for Lae and Wampar urban will be on Tuesday,
July 5.
“We have planned for polling in all rural areas to be at least for five days,”
he said.
“We’re going to start all our polling on July 4 and expect to complete by July
8.
“All ballot boxes are expect to arrive at respective districts and local level
governments over the weekend.”
“We’re going to start counting the following Monday (July 11), depending on our
reporting and preparations.
“Actually, polling will be for
two weeks but we have planned
to do a week polling so that
will give us ample time for counting.”
Soheke said there were 436,450 eligible voters in the last update but they were
expecting 476,000 people to vote in the province.
Bougainville focused on successful election
ELECTION manager for
the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Justin Pantumari says they will be fully
focused on successfully conducting General Election 2022 (GE22) even with unsettled
bills from GE17.
Pantumari told The National that one of the biggest challenges he faced was
that there were a few outstanding bills from service providers for the 2012 and
2017 GEs consecutively, which had not yet been addressed by the Electoral
Commission (EC).
When asked if he had received funding, he confirmed that the first traunch of
funding had arrived for polling and counting training for the 13 assistant
returning officers (AROs).
“The AROs and ROs finished their training for polling and counting preparedness
on Tuesday and now the AROs are training their presiding officers,” he said.
Pantumari noted that election sensitive materials, such as ballot papers and
election kits would be arriving today with the boxes confirmed to arrive the
following week Tuesday.
Polling in Bougainvilwle was to start on Monday, July 4, through to Friday,
July 8, with 128 polling teams conducting polling throughout the 13 local level
government wards.
“All AROs were gazetted on Monday and I have given them their gazette and
instructions already, so we’re ready, we’re just waiting for the materials to
arrive,” Pantumari said.
Hospital staff, patients may not vote: Molumi
THE staff and patients of Port Moresby General
Hospital (PMGH) may not vote if facilities are not set up in the premises, an
official says.
PMGH chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi told The National that the 1,600
staff and 900 patients may be denied their rights to vote if the polling venue
is not established at the hospital.
Molumi, in response to questions on whether staff and patients would be given
time vote, said the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) should have considered
this.
“We cannot deny the rights of every citizen to vote including patients and
staff on duty,” he said.
“PNGEC should have considered this and have a polling team set up at PMGH.”
Port Moresby General Hospital was the largest referral hospital that had about
900 patients from around the country.
Molumi said there were about 1,600 who could be denied their rights to vote if
a polling booth was not set up at the hospital.
“The patients and my staff on duty will miss out on their constitutional right
to vote in this one-day polling,” he said.
“I will formally write to the PNGEC to request that a polling team be stationed
at the hospital.”
Meanwhile, Molumi has warned that the hospital management would not tolerate
any general election related activities on or near the hospital premises.
In a circular this week, Molumi told the staff and residents that election
related activities were prohibited within the PMGH premises.
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