Prime Minister James Marape has tabled in Parliament the report reviewing the Organic Law on national and local-level government elections.
The two-part report is the outcome of a constitutional directive to the PNG Constitutional Law Reform Commission (PNGCLRC) in 2018 to re-examine the relevant Organic Law to reform and improve the electoral system.
Prime Minister Marape said he was pleased to be presenting the report to Parliament and looked forward to seeing the PNG Electoral Commission begin implementing the recommendations immediately.
The report is titled as follows ‘Final Report on the Review of the Organic Law on National and Local-Level Government Elections Volume 1: Restoring Integrity to the PNG Electoral System’, and ‘Provincial Consultation Report on the Inquiry into the Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections and Related Electoral Laws and Systems Volume 2’.
The report covers: the electoral roll system; the polling system including polling periods and polling places; electoral boundaries; women and special interest representation in Parliament; nomination fees; eligibility for nomination; election petition fees and period of filing; voter identification system; local level government elections; electoral offences; the power, functions and composition of the electoral commissioner; decentralisation election responsibilities; and such other matters that may arise in the course of the review.
A secretariat comprising key stakeholders was led by the PNGCLRC to travel nationwide to consult and gauge the views of Papua New Guineans which led to putting together the content of the report.
The review took 18 months, from March 2018 to September 2019, with the final copy presented to the Prime Minister’s Office in January 2020. It was finally approved by the National Executive Council.