The proposed increase in nomination fees for intending candidates is late and will affect smaller political parties.
The Registrar of Political Parties, Dr Alphonse Gelu, tells Loop PNG that smaller parties have informed him that the proposed increase, from K1000 to K10,000, will significantly impact them and the number of candidates they intend to field during the elections.
He said the decision to increase the fee should have been done some years back and not on the eve of the elections.
“The increase is quite a massive increase and it will really affect the ability of smaller political parties to try and bring all their resources together to endorse candidates around the country.
“In fact, the indication that is coming out of the political parties is that with this increase in the nomination fee, the number of candidates that they will endorse will not be that big,” Gelu said.
In the 2012 National Elections, 3428 candidates contested the national elections, either under the 33 various political parties or as independents.
While the number of registered political parties now stand at 35, the number of candidates could significantly fall.
The fee increase has been endorsed by the National Executive Council (NEC) however, it is yet to be passed in Parliament.
Gelu said the announcement of the increase should have been done more democratically as the announcement was made suddenly and without consultation.
“Let’s do things more democratically by making sure that we give time to the people of this country,” he stated.
“We don’t want to just overnight and issue a directive without giving people the opportunity to think about, to absorb it, and then to make up their minds as to what they think about these changes.
“So I totally agree with the idea that any reform, whether it’s through the elections or through the political parties or anything else, has to be done well, well before.
“Give some time to the people to understand and accept these reforms,” he said.
Loop file photo