Marat – a gem of a gentleman politician
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
Marat – a gem of a
gentleman politician
PORT MORESBY: Lawyer-turned politician Dr Allan Marat
says he has got nothing to worry about accepting defeat and is looking forward
to continue his profession in the legal fraternity.
“Election is a race.
Whoever wins, wins, that is the people’s choice, so let it be,” he said after
he lost his bid for a fifth term in Parliament in Rabaul.
Marat, though losing by
only three votes to Pangu Pati’s Graham Piniau, accepted defeat without making
any fuss on Tuesday (Julky 19, 2022).
This is a rare gem of a
role-model politician, unlike the majority who resorted to violence and
bullying to get political power at any cost.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below the news break and a few General Election 2022 news updates published by The National:
Marat accepts loss,
will back MP-elect
July 21, 2022The NationalMain Stories
LAWYER-TURNED-POLITICIAN
Dr Allan Marat says he has got nothing to worry about in accepting defeat and
is looking forward to continue his profession in the legal fraternity.
“Election is a race. Whoever wins, wins, that is the people’s choice, so let it
be,” he said after he lost his bid for a fifth term in Parliament as Rabaul MP.
Marat, though losing by only three votes to Pangu Pati’s Graham Piniau,
accepted defeat without making any fuss on Tuesday.
This is a rare gem of a role-model politician, unlike the majority who resorted
to violence and bullying to get political power at any cost.
Marat polled 5,189 votes, three short of Piniau’s 5,192.
The electoral battle in Rabaul was waged by nine candidates.
Marat, leader of the Melanesian Liberal Party, said: “I admit, General Election
2022 was a tough one compared with previous elections in the past 20 years. It
is the people’s choice and not ours, so accept it.
“It is a good one and I congratulate Graham Piniau Rumet for winning the race
and a good contest so far.”
Marat told The National that as an experienced politician in
the district and province, he respected the people’s choice and “I will support
him on matters of Rabaul’s development”.
“Losing the Rabaul seat does not mean my contributions to the development of my
district ends,” he said.
“I will always be here to support and back the sitting MP.
“The relationship here is not about who wins and who loses but to be
supportive.”
Marat also thanked the other candidates, supporters and scrutineers of all
candidates for a successful election and wished Rumet all the best in his debut
year in the 11th Parliament.
Meanwhile, Rumet also thanked Marat for his leadership over the last 20 years
and pledged to continue the work left by Marat in the next five years.
O’Neill thanks people for their confidence in
his leadership
RE-ELECTED Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neil yesterday thanked the people of the
Southern Highlands electorate for continuing to have confidence in his
leadership.
He became first candidate in Southern Highlands to be declared a winner at the
Momei Oval in Mendi. He polled 45,109 votes, or 62.6 per cent of the total
number of the votes for the electorate.
The runner-up was Pangu Pati candidate Stanley Liria who had 13,909, followed
by ndependent candidate Sam Wange with 5,906.
Counting which started on Sunday afternoon was completed on Wednesday.
“I am thankful to the people of Ialibu-Pangia for having the trust in me. They
never lost hope and faith in me,” O’Neill said
“It is the people who gave us (MPs) the mandate and we must respect (that) and
deliver services they deserve. I will bring development to them.
“They deserve it.”
He said some MPs who stole the people’s money thus disrespecting them and lost
their seats.
“This election was peaceful. People exercised their rights and this is the
turning point for this province to move forward after learning from the past
mistakes,” he said.
O’Neill remained confident that his party would form the next government in
Mendi.
Counting on hold since
Monday
July 21, 2022The NationalMain Stories
Bulolo returning officer (RO) Raune Jombert said the counting was suspended
after count three.
“It was suspended after the candidates alleged that the process of counting
that we were going through was not right,” he said.
“Actually, we were supposed to have completed our counting sometime late last
week or early this week, but because of the petition before us, we were dragged
on till now.
“We are still waiting for the legal advice to start counting again.”
Jombert said they were waiting for legal advice from the Electoral Commission
(EC) and election manager in the province to begin counting anytime soon.
“We are expecting to get the advice by today (yesterday) and if all is good, we
might start counting again before the end of the week.”
Jombert said there was also security concern so they had to assess carefully
before counting could begin.
Since the candidates had raised their concerns, the tension in terms of
security is high.
“We do not want to face the same situation as in Kabwum and Markham,” he said.
While urging the public to stay calm and let the counting process to go on,
Jombert said people had to be neutral and let the process be completed so that
the new leader could be made known to them early.
He added that candidates had their right to raise concern but asked that all
parties to agree to follow the process.
Counting for Hiri-Koiari delayed after walk
out
COUNTING for
Hiri-Koiari was disrupted yesterday morning as scrutineers refused to inspect
the counting process at Murray Barracks, an official says.
Returning officer Leo Ameua said the scrutineers refused to participate because
they were unhappy that candidates from certain wards in Koiari LLG had received
many votes.
“Scrutineers saw that two or three candidates from the Manari, Efogi and Kagi
wards in Koiari LLG collected many votes,” he said.
“Hence, after the second count, they told the officials to disregard the count
for that box.”
Ameua said despite the appeal from the scrutineers, the box was counted on
Tuesday night.
He said the box was counted on the grounds no legal document was presented to
him to stop the counting for the box.
“According to instructions from the Central election office, disputed boxes
will be not counted if there is a legal document stating why,” he said.
Ameua said when the scrutineers saw that the box was counted, they walked out
of the counting room.
He said that counting would not start without the presence of scrutineers.
“We are waiting for them arrive here so we can begin counting again,” he said.
Ameua said despite the disruption in the morning, counting continued yesterday
after midday.
Rigo counting stalled, candidates and
scrutineers petition EC
By AILEEN KWARAGU
COUNTING for the Rigo
Open seat was delayed yesterday as candidates and scrutineers petitioned the
Electoral Commission (EC) to replace all electoral officials after two were
detained by police on Monday night.
They said returning officer Murray Konido could remain but the rest of his team
needed to be replaced while the two officials taken into police custody needed
to be investigated.
They also called for two ballot boxes from Mt Brown and Dorobisoro to be
excluded from the count because they arrived on Tuesday night and may have been
tampered with.
The petition also called for three scrutineers per candidate to be allowed in
the counting venue.
George Enane, a spokesman representing scrutineers, said the point of the
petition was to ensure a transparent process.
They asked for Konido to receive the petition on behalf of the EC but he had
not done so.
“Our returning officer has refused to receive this petition and another team
leader who was alerted failed to mention it to him,” he said.
“To have a free and fair election and to allow the counting to progress Konido
should be answerable to us.”
Meanwhile, attempts by The National’s to get comments from
Konido regarding the petition were unsuccessful.
Counting halted over compromised boxes
Imbonggu returning
officer Pora Kelma ready to count other boxes for Imbonggu open after being
ordered by election manager Alwin Jimmy to start. – Nationalpic by PETER WARI
By PETER WARI
DISGRUNTLED
scrutineers in Imbonggu, Southern Highlands, stopped the counting of ballot
boxes yesterday after alleging that four boxes from Peimbil ward in the
Imbonggu local level government had been tampered.
The argument led to the delay in the counting that required security personnel
to intervene and calm the situation.
Some scrutineers argued for the alleged hijacked boxes to be set aside and
counting to start on other ballot boxes while others said to wait for the
Electoral Commission to give directions.
After the ballot boxes were brought to the Mendi police station and stored, the
candidates filed a complaint to the Electoral Commission stating their
concerns.
Imbonggu returning officer Pora Kelma said candidates and their scrutinisers
had to provide evidence to prove the alleged hijacking of ballot boxes and if
that was not provided then counting would continue.
Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai responded to their grievances in a letter
addressed to election manager Alwin Jimmy on Monday and said he had been
informed by Jimmy that candidates had interfered with the counting process
after complaining about ballot boxes for Imbonggu being hijacked.
Sinai said he appreciated the concern however the counting needed to be
completed before July 29.
He said any ballot boxes that reached the counting centre without any
disturbances or any objections properly raised under the electoral laws needed
to be checked and counted.
Jimmy told the scrutineers that the clearance for the alleged hijacked boxes
would done today (Thursday) and ordered Kelma and counting officials to start
counting the electorate’s other boxes.
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