Despite claims of no polling conducted, EC overrules dispute of 12 ballot boxes

News that matter in Papua New Guinea

Despite claims of no polling conducted, EC overrules dispute of 12 ballot boxes

PORT MORESBY: Papua New Guinea (PNG) Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai has overruled the decision to exclude 12 ballot boxes from Lake Kopiago despite claims that there was no polling conducted in the area.

In a letter dated July 15 (Friday), Sinai said he received letters from two candidates, former Hela administrator William Bando, who disputed the 12 boxes, and incumbent Petrus Thomas, advocating for the boxes to be included.

Hela Election Manager John Tip made a decision to disqualify the 12 ballot boxes last week as there was no polling in the area.

“I was there in person, including the election steering committee chairman, and saw that there was no polling done,” he said.

PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below the news break and a few General Election 2022 news updates as published by The National:


Sinai overrules claim

July 18, 2022The NationalMain Stories

By REBECCA KUKU
ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai has over-ruled the decision to exclude 12 ballot boxes from the Lake Kopiago area despite claims that there was no polling done in the area.
In a letter dated July 15, Sinai said he received letters from two candidates, former Hela administrator William Bando, who disputed the 12 boxes, and incumbent Petrus Thomas, advocating for the boxes to be included.
Hela election manager John Tipa made a decision to disqualify the 12 ballot boxes last week as there was no polling in the area.
“I was there in person, including the election steering committee chairperson, and saw that there was no polling done,” he said
Tipa said that he had enough evidence and reports from electoral officers, security personnel and the people confirming that no polling was done.
However, in the letter from the Electoral Commission addressed to the Koroba-Lake Kopiago returning officer, Sinai said that election managers did not have the powers under the Organic Law or the Electrol Law to receive or make decisions of the admission of ballot boxes to scrutiny.
“There is no proper evidence that there was no polling in the Lake Kopiago area, therefore, my decision is that all these ballot boxes be admitted in for counting,” he said.
Meanwhile, candidate Kenwa Ikila, speaking on behalf of three other candidates Samson Peri, Jonathan Lepo and Alan Yalu, all from Lake Kopiago who were contesting for the Koroba-Lake Kopiago seat, also said that their people in the Lake Kopiago area did not vote. He said the matter will be settled in the court of disputed returns.


Counting for Nuku to start today,says official

By YVONNE KAMBIBEL
COUNTING for Nuku in West Sepik will start today, says returning officer Fernando Yala.
Yala said polling concluded on Thursday followed by preparations for counting at the Catholic Mission in Nuku station.
He said despite minor disturbances in Kolembi, Palai local level government (LLG) which included the stabbing of a youth and an accident involving the assistant returning officer (ARO), polling was conducted well.
“The assistant returning officer is at the Boram General Hospital in Wewak, recovering,” he said.
“However, the youth was murdered by a drunkard and his relative.”
Yala said earlier last week in Kolembi, in Palai’s ward seven area, a drunkard approached the polling area and started destroying things.
“The young man was among others who tried to remove the drunkard from the polling station but the drunkard’s relatives, who were there, supported him and murdered the young man,” he said.


Court dismisses RO’s application

By BEVERLY PETER
THE National Court has dismissed a second attempt by the former Hagen Open returning officer (RO) Willie Ropa to stop Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai’s decision to revoke his appointment and appoint Pais Nop.
Judge Joseph Yagi at Waigani on Friday said the application was an abuse of court process because Ropa used the same facts and grounds as his previous application in this proceeding.
“It is like taking a second bite at cherry which is wrong and it is proper for the court to exercise its inherent power to protect its process by dismissing this proceeding for being an abuse of process,” he said.
Yagi said the basic fact that Sinai had Ropa’s appointment revoked and replaced him with Nop in the position
on June 2 remained the same in this proceeding which Ropa had already challenged.
“Ropa relied on the same grounds to review Sinai’s decision which the Court had determined and made a decision on the merit of the leave application on July 4,” he said.
“The proper step for Ropa to take is to appeal that Court decision.”
The State’s notice of motion challenging the competency of Ropa’s application was dismissed by Yagi who said the legislation relied on was not applicable in the proceeding.
Although, the motion was dismissed, Yagi said the matters raised and argued by the State were correct and properly raised and argued during the hearing.
The matter went before the Court last Monday.
The State in their motion sought to dismiss the proceeding .
This was because no arguable case was raised in the application and it was an abuse of process.
The application was however filed on the grounds that Ropa said he was not given an opportunity to be heard in his defence before Sinai made the decision.


EC approves extension

July 18, 2022The NationalMain Stories

By GLORIA BAUAI
A ONE week extension has been approved by the Electoral Commission (EC) for two local level governments (LLGs) in Madang whose eight polling teams are yet to be sent there for polling.
Three teams for Gama LLG of Usino-Bundi and five teams for Naiyudo LLG of Raicoast were still waiting for a helicopter to airlift them to their polling sites.
Usino-Bundi Returning Officer (RO) Terence Baiyo said his three teams and polling materials were expected to be flown in today with a polling extension until Saturday.
Raicost RO Peter Omangem, however, said there was no clear indication for his teams’ insertion.
“We’ve been communicating the same information with AusAID, the Electoral Commission and Heli Niugini for the past two to three weeks with no progress at all,” he said.
Meantime, polling for all other LLGs had been completed, with some teams yet to be extracted, according to their ROs.
In Madang Open, 67 teams for Madang Urban, Transgogol and Ambenob LLGs completed polling and ballot boxes had been locked up at Jomba police station.
For Sumkar Open, all 20 teams from Sumgilbar and Karkar LLG completed polling. For Raicoast, Naiyudo LLG’s eight teams saw only three complete polling, nine teams of Astrolobay LLG completed polling and were extracted into Madang, 15 teams for Nahurawa LLG also completed polling with one team awaiting extraction.
Raicoast rural’s 19 teams saw about three quarter of the teams complete polling with two quarter yet to return to Madang.
Usino-Bundi confirmed three of Gama LLG’s eight teams were yet to go into the LLG for polling.
Usino had 19 teams, 18 completed their polling while one will complete final polling today.
Bogia also completed polling with all boxes locked at the police station, awaiting counting.
Attempts to get updates from Middle Ramu RO Suckling Gi were unsuccessful.
Election manager Sponsa Navi said the only concern was to get the remaining teams into their LLGs to complete polling exercises for counting to start this week.
Proposed venues for counting were regional at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Madang Open at Tusbab Secondary School, Raicoast Open at the United Church, Sumkar at the Jomba Gospel Light House church hall, Middle Ramu at the Foursquare Church, while Bogia and Usino-Bundi to host their counting in their stations.


Madang forced into a holiday

Public servants and major projects in Madang have been forced into a holiday after Ombudsman Commission (OC) placed a ban on all public funds, says administrator Frank Lau.
Since the issue of writs in May, the OC exercised its powers under Section 27 (4) of the Constitution to control the use of public funds to avoid misuse and abuse.
Lau, who took office last month, said the ban extended to all provincial funds and had badly handicapped government operations.
“The ban is supposed to cover only the provincial and district support improvement plan (PSIP and DSIP) and special support grant which are funds that come through the province,” he said.
Lau said Madang’s government house has had its water supply cut off for almost a month now, some of its casual workers were yet to be paid and divisions lacked basic supplies like printer ink.
“There is no point for public servants to be at work when there is no money to run the offices,” he said.
Lau said the ban had been a setback, placing the provincial government in a financially awkward position to not adequately support its election steering committee meeting and general election work.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Growing unemployment rate in Papua New Guinea

Sugu Valley tribal war death toll rises to at least 30

Sorcery shame for Papua New Guinea in X’mas