Why is PNG’s EC not stopping ex-convicts from contesting in General Election 2022?
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
Why is PNG’s EC not
stopping ex-convicts from contesting in General Election 2022?
PORT MORESBY: Papua New Guinea (PNG)’s electoral
commissioner Simon Sinai says the Electoral Commission (EC) is still seeking
advice on the recent Supreme Court decision stopping those convicted to stand
for election.
PNG Cyber Monitor wonders what advice is he seeking? The Supreme
Court has already confirmed the law banning convicts, so it is now his (Sinai)
and the EC’s responsibility to do their job for the people and country, as far
as general elections are concerned.
The news was reported by The National:
EC still seeking legal
advice
June 6, 2022The NationalMain Stories
Responding to The National on the enforcement of the new law,
Sinai said: “We are still seeking legal advice. Otherwise, it’s a law that
those under conviction of an indictable offence, their nominations should be
rejected. The Supreme Court decided that they should not contest.”
According to the Supreme Court decision last month (May 30), anyone convicted
of a crime after June 25, 2002 would not be eligible to stand for elections or
remain an MP.
The decision was reached after various questions of constitutional
interpretation and application referred by Attorney-General Pila Niningi
seeking the court’s clarification of Section 103 (3) (e) of the Constitution
which came into effect in 2002.
The court said Section 103 (3) (e) of the Constitution operated to disqualify
from MP, a person who had been committed after the date of commencement of
Constitutional Amendment No. 24 – Electoral Reforms, irrespective of the length
of their sentence and whether they had completed their sentence.
The matter was heard before a five-man Supreme Court bench comprising acting
Chief Justice Les Gavara-Nanu, Justice Elenas Batari, Justice David Cannings,
Justice George Manuhu and Justice Allen Kingsley David.
The court said it was, subject to some exceptions in Section 103 (6) – if they
are granted a free pardon or their conviction is quashed, a lifetime
disqualification.
A nomination to be a candidate by such a person must be rejected by the Electoral
Commission, and if their nomination is accepted, it is open to be set aside by
the National or Supreme courts, the court said.
The court also said if their nomination was not set aside and such a person was
a candidate in the election and they were elected, “their election is open to
be declared null and void via an election petition challenging their election
under the Organic Law on national and local level government elections”.
O’Neill shows support for Manus candidates
Manus traditional
dancers welcoming People’s National Congress (PNC) party Leader Peter O’Neill
to Lorengau on Friday. O’Neill was in Lorengau to endorse Wep Kanawi for Manus
open and George Sikin for Manus regional.– Picture supplied
The People’s National
Congress party Leader Peter O’Neill has been busy moving around various parts
of the country supporting his candidates.
On Friday, he travelled to Manus to endorse Wep Kanawi for Manus open and
George Sikin for Manus regional.
O’Neill’s late father, Magistrate Brian O’Neill, served a number of years on
the island province and lived in Lorengau, therefore Manus was held dear to the
PNC Party leader.
Addressing the people, O’Neill said Kanawi had a distinguished career in the
public sector.
He added that Sikin while youthful, would add the dynamic attitude needed to
take on and solve some of Manus’ most pressing issues. “The combination of Wep
and George is a winning one and I can already see how well they are working
together for the benefit of their people,” he said.
O’Neill returned to Port Moresby for a rally at Lealea village near the PNG LNG
plant site on Saturday and is now in the Highlands before going to West Sepik
for two days.
Returning officer urges candidates to educate
voters
By JIMMY KALEBE
A RETURNING officer in
Morobe is urging candidates contesting the election in his district to become
voter educators during the campaign period.
Tewai-Siassi RO Lancelot Kamake said the 41 candidates that are contesting the
seat in General Election 2022 have to take the lead in educating their voters
on how to cast their votes in the limited preferential voting (LPV) system.
“There have been experiences in the past elections where some ballot papers
were classified as null and void because some voters may have marked the ballot
papers incorrectly,” he said.
Kamake said this was why all candidates needed to take the lead in ensuring
their voters are educated properly before they go to the polling booths.
“These are your voters and if they are not being educated properly on how to
mark the ballot papers and they marked it wrongly, then you will lose the
votes.”
He said the election officials on the ground could only help but the onus was
on the candidates to ensure voters were educated well during the campaign
period.
Kamake also urged other citizens in the district who knew how to vote and mark
the ballot papers to show others in their communities.
He added that all preferences would be important and would affect the number of
votes a candidate received.
Meanwhile, Kamake asked all candidates running for Tewai-Siassi seat to respect
other candidates during their campaigns.
“You must make it a priority that you and your supporters do not get into
confrontation with the other candidates and their supporters. Work as a team
and promote a free, fair and safe election.”
He said his election team was working on polling schedules, costing and
planning logistics for the movement of ballot boxes, ballot papers, election
officials and other equipment.
He added that Tewai-Siassi electorate would have 20 polling teams in Sialum, 10
teams on Siassi Island and five in Wasu.
Powi blames supporters
June 6, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
Supporters of
candidates are the cause of election-related violence in the country, Southern
Highlands Governor William Powi says.
Powi, who is defending his Southern Highlands regional seat in the General
Election 2022 (GE22) under the Pangu ticket, made this known after he witnessed
innocent people’s vehicles being stoned by supporters of a regional candidate
in Nipa-Kutubu on Wednesday.
Powi said he was invited by people from Topua wards one and two in the
Nembi-Plateau local level government (LLG) and was given 20 pigs and three cassowaries
to support his election campaign.
“We cannot continue to fight amongst ourselves and live like this, election
comes after every five years and people should not cause violence but exercise
their democratic rights by voting good leaders,” he said.
“Supporters are the cause of many of the violence during election period around
the country and candidates must properly educate them to refrain them from
taking part in illegal activities.”
He was responding to several vehicles belonging to his supporters being
allegedly damaged by supporters of Philemon Embel on Wednesday afternoon while
they were returning home after the programme in Nembi-Plateau LLG.
Embel, who is running for the regional seat under the People’s National
Congress, was nearly shot by a suspect on Thursday morning.
The suspect’s vehicle was believed to be damaged on Wednesday. “Embel has been
the MP for Nipa-Kutubu for 20 years, he is a senior leader and should control
his supporters,” Powi said.
“Police must investigate this incident, we cannot let supporters instigate
problems.”
Police urges supporters to behave during
election period
ASSISTANT Commissioner
of Police for Highlands (Eastern End) Rigga Neggi says police will not hesitate
to arrest supporters of candidates who want to cause trouble and disturb the
electoral process.
“Supporters of candidates should all behave as police will arrest those that
want to cause trouble and disturb peace during the election,” he said.
Neggi called on supporters of candidates to be on their best behaviour and
allow voters to cast their ballots without fear or intimidation.
“To make the work of policing during the election easier, the public must
respect the security personnel and follow the rule of law,” he said.
Neggi said elections in the Highlands region had a history of being volatile
with instances of violence and intimidation but he assured the public that the
security personnel would be working hard to maintain peace throughout the
election period.
“It was always the supporters of candidates that create worst case scenarios
during the election but if they want to vote freely then they should not be
going around causing trouble,” he said.
He urged candidates to set rules and guidelines for their supporters to follow
in order to avoid election-related problems.
“We can work together to make the election a success if the public and the
supporters of candidates obey the laws,” Neggi said.
Western end command gets six vehicles
By GEORGINA KOREI
SIX new police
vehicles have been given to the Highlands Western End Command by Police
Commissioner David Manning for use in election operations.
Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police for Highlands western end command John
Kale said two vehicles were given to each of the three provinces – Hela,
Southern Highlands and Enga – under his command.
Kale thanked Commissioner Manning for donating the vehicles to his command at a
crucial time of election as it would cut down some of their expenses.
“The vehicles were a relief to the security budget as it helped to reduce the
cost involved in hiring vehicles,” he said.
Kale said the vehicles would be used during election operations by security
personnel for highway patrols but returned to the care of the provincial police
commanders after the election.
“The vehicles will be taken care of by the PPCs once the election is over,” he
said.
Kale said most of the funding for election security was spent on logistics,
especially vehicle hire.
Poor leadership contributing to law and order
issues: Nupiri
THE continuous law and order woes in Southern
Highlands are due to poor leadership at the top level, Southern Highlands
regional Independent candidate, Peter Nupiri.
Nupiri, said the province used to be peaceful and people respected their
village leaders, chiefs and elders.
“All has changed over the years and it is all due to poor leadership of elected
leaders and a clash of traditional and modern cultures.
“We must not forget that we are sons and daughters of struggling fathers who
built roads with their bare hands, with sheer determination to mould and create
the province.
“They dismantled and carried parts of a Land Rover from Mt Hagen in Western
Highlands to Mendi.
“They sacrificed to see a future in us, and for the province to be vibrant and
prosperous,” he said.
Nupiri said the mainline churches had played a special part in the history of
Southern Highlands and they also played a pivotal role in laying the foundation
to shape the province.
“Through the Christian faith, they brought calm and peace in society within
their territories.
“It is time for the people to learn from past mistakes.
“They must realise that there is no real tangible development and service
delivery from oil, Government grants, development levies, dividends from
investments and tax credits.
“There is continuous law and order issues, decline in the falling standards in
education, dysfunctional civil service, aging infrastructure and poor or no
economic growth.
“Our performance indicators at the national level development index is not reflective
of a resource rich province and does not look good at all,” he said.
MP looking to continue
services
June 6, 2022The NationalMain Stories
A DECADE ago Moresby
South in Port Moresby was lagging behind the city’s other districts in terms of
infrastructure, development and basic services until the entry of a new leader
in 2012, local MP Justin Tkatchenko says.
Running under the Social Democratic ticket, Tkatchenko, who is running for a
third term in office said he had set the standard by changing the electorate
with projects in health, education and sport.
“The electorate lacked development, infrastructure and basic services when I
entered which I started from scratch,” he said.
Known by his initials “JT”, Tkatchenko told The National that
his partnership with National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop had
enabled him to build seven markets, 200 classrooms and upgraded schools in the
electorate.
“Apart from that a new district hospital will be built including free health
care to be provided,” he said.
He said the two biggest issues faced by the people in the electorate were land
and water which he had been fighting for.
Tkatchenko said he was working on solving the issues by providing practical,
workable solutions that would benefit them.
“We have been fighting for these basic services but since Water PNG was
privately operated they had failed us,” he said. “If elected for the third time
I will work on solutions to fix the never-ending water supply problems in
Moresby South.”
Completing projects
IJIVITARI MP Richard
Masere claims he is contesting the new Popondetta seat because he wants to
continue many development projects that he had started.
“As our population in PNG grows, the demand for better or quality
representation in Parliament is expected by the people,” he said.
“The demand for service delivery also grows with population.
“The Government has to find a one-size-fits-all for these gaps,” he added.
Masere said he had ensured that service delivery was equally spread over the
five local level governments.
Ambulance service on alert during general
election
THE public must not hesitate to call the St
John Ambulance service for any emergency situation where people are seriously
injured or lives are at risk, an official says.
St John Ambulance chief executive officer Matt Cannon said the service would be
on standby to help those in need, especially over the election period.
“Do not wait but call the helpline on 111 straight away if the emergency is
life-threatening ” he said.
“We are located in the NCD, Central, Kokopo, Lae and Kundiawa.
“If the illness or injury is not life threatening please make your way to the
hospital but do not wait to call us if it is serious.”
Cannon said a six-man ambulance special operation and rescue team was put
together to support the Police during the election.
MP ‘lacks standing’ to
query EC
June 6, 2022The NationalMain Stories
THE National Court has ruled that
Jiwaka governor Dr William Tongamp lacks standing to challenge Electoral
Commissioner (EC) Simon Sinai’s appointment of Umar Nuka as the returning
officer (RO) for the province.
Justice Joseph Yagi said this in Waigani on Friday when refusing to grant leave
to Tongamp to review Sinai’s decision to appoint Nuka as the RO for Jiwaka.
On May 6, a list of ROs were published in a Gazette in which Nuka was among
them.
Tongamp, through his lawyer Michael Kuma, submitted that Nuka was not fit and
proper to be appointed as the RO.
He said Sinai acted beyond his powers under Sections 18(1) and 19(1) of the
Organic Law by appointing Nuka who was not an “officer” as defined under
Section 3(1) of the Organic Law.
The State, through lawyer Rosa Mobiha, submitted that a notice of motion filed
on May 18 in which interim relief was sought in the nature of a stay order was
incompetent.
Justice Yagi upheld the State’s submission to be the correct legal position.
“An applicant for leave under Order 16 Rule (3)(1) of the National Court rules
is not entitled to any interim relief unless leave to apply for judicial review
is granted,” he added. Mobiha submitted that Tongamp lacked standing because he
was not directly affected by Sinai’s decision.
June 6, 2022The NationalNational
Lancelot Kamake
Tewai-Siassi returning
officer Lancelot Kamake has cited communication and logistics as two main areas
that might affect the running of the election in the district in Morobe.
Kamake said security had been highlighted by his election officials
He said mobile signal was poor at Sialum district headquarters where counting
would be held.
“People have to move to certain locations where they can have access to mobile
network.
“It will be risky for us as election officials trying to get information out.”
He said there should be good coverage so that any information that needed to be
transmitted via phone quickly could be done with ease.
He said the counting venue at Sialum station should have an effective mobile
coverage to make communication easier.
“However, we have communicated with the head office in Port Moresby and they
knew about this so we are hoping for a favourable response,” he said.
Kamake said for safety, he had requested for security personnel during the
nomination period.
“Last week, we engaged our local auxiliary police who did a good job during
nomination,” he said.
He said there were no election-related problems experienced so far in
Tewai-Siassi district.
Kamake said movement of ballot papers should be efficient.
“Once the ballot boxes are completed, they should be moved out at once and not
be delayed.”
Respect election process: Manager
By HELEN TARAWA
THE people of East New
Britain have been urged to respect the election and ensure a peaceful polling
and counting period.
Provincial election manager Joab Voivoi said this in response to questions
regarding the situation on the ground in ENB.
He said they were carrying out awareness on the limited preferential voting
(LPV) system to prepare the voters.
He commended the people for a quiet nomination period while stressing that they
needed to do the same during the polling and counting period.
Voivoi said they were organising logistics (land, sea and air) for polling and
counting.
He said the candidate numbers for East New Britain had increased from 83 in
2017 to 96 in 2022.
Meanwhile, New Ireland election manager Benjamin Kliawi said preparations were
underway with polling officials listing and preparing of logistics.
“Our returning officers are now working to put together the polling teams lists
and also getting the vehicles organised and the necessary logistics required
for the polling,” he said.
Wau-Waria’s sole woman candidate wants change
WAU-WARIA’s only woman
candidate will be contesting the seat based on past leadership and experience
evaluated and requested by the youths and mothers in the electorate.
Judy Pokana was a public servant for about 30 years, and council manager for
the Wau rural local level government (LLG) in 2011 when Wau and Waria were
still under Bulolo district.
She said that during her three-year term (2011-2013) there were some
developments that took place in the LLG, especially water supply services, the
launching of five primary and elementary schools with the support of late
deputy prime minister Sam Basil.
Pokana, contesting as an independent candidate, will focus on five key areas –
law and justice, infrastructure development, economic development, health and
social development.
“Due to continuous law and order issues, I would support youths by involving
them in activities supporting law-enforcing bodies,”she said.
“Upgrading and building new roads and bridges in order to bring in projects and
programmes.
“In terms of economic development, I would support agriculture and livestock,
cash crops and new projects, Garaina Tea re-opening (closed in the late ’90s),
mining and to support small to medium enterprises for women and youths.
She will look at means to build a new Wau hospital and re-open aid posts to carry
out immunisation in rural and remote areas.
She wants to see improvement to Wau’s only secondary school, Grace Memorial
Secondary, elementary schools turned into primary schools and vocational
schools and flexible open distance education (Fode)
“I would like to build women empowerment, promote tourism and help vulnerable
groups.”
Comments
Post a Comment