Election petitions before the National Court are being given priority due to time factor, says Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia.
Despite being just a portion of cases before the court, the judiciary has set a timeline to dispose all those petition trial in the National Court by June this year.
“We’ve set a target. In terms of the reviews, some have already been filed and hope by end of this year will see through most of the reviews,” he said.
Election petition reviews filed in the Supreme Court so far include that filed by Francis Potape over the Hela regional petition and Mai Dop over the Jimi seat. More are expected to be filed.
Meanwhile, the only petition that has gone through trial and determined by the court is the one over the Central Bougainville seat, where a recount was ordered.
Other petitions have been dismissed for being incompetent before going for trial. Some are yet to go for trial.
In the meantime, the election petition filed by retired Defence Force commander, Major-General Jerry Singirok, disputing Peter Yama’s election over the Madang Regional seat is expected to go for trial today in Madang.