Candidates Rebut Powi’s Call

Candidates contesting the Southern Highlands Provincial seat have rebutted the call by incumbent Governor, William Powi for the relocation of the counting venue.

In an earlier call, Powi requested the PNG Electoral Commission to move counting location for Southern Highlands Regional to a neutral location, which is far from the realities on the ground.

The candidates’ spokesperson and current leader for the SHP provincial race, Peter Nupiri in a statement said the call is nothing short of seeking attention and public pity to some extent.

“It must not happen this time around and he must learn how to win elections the democratic way, through the ballot.

“It is an indication of lack of confidence in our security forces and the electoral officials. This is an outright slap in the face of Southern Highlanders, who want their votes to be counted transparently in the province and not elsewhere.

“He needs to stand with us the rest of the regional candidates and show true leadership on the ground rather than making unfounded allegations.

“On record, the election process (pre-polling, polling, and counting) so far has been generally commendable despite some minor hiccups in parts of the province, mainly in his district.

“Contrary to his allegations against us, the regional candidates interfering with the counting process let me make it clear that we are simply exercising our democratic rights as candidates to correct some anomalies by the Electoral officials at the counting centre.

“They are simply giving us a deaf ear and bulldozing things when important technical issues of concern are raised.”

Nupiri said failing to adhere to their concerns since last week, they have demanded the Electoral Commission to intervene on the following demands:

  1. Set up a central tally room/center to avoid inconveniences and discrepancies in data (vote) entry into the central database and make the entire process TRANSPARENT.
  2. Tallies entered on Form 66A must be transparent.
  3. Removal or sidelining of electoral officials including the election manager, his assistant and the Acting Provincial returning officer.
  4. The Appointment of Johnson Levi as the Assistant Provincial Returning Officer is highly questionable and suspicious.

“Finally, we will all be satisfied with the election outcome if the counting is conducted fairly and transparently, safeguarding the democratic principle of people’s choice or let the ballot speak.

“We will continue to support the continuation of the counting and eventual declaration of the winner if the Election officials can get their acts together and do the right thing.”

Meanwhile, Ialibu Pangia, Imbonggu and Mendi Munhiu counting have concluded and declarations done without violence and any form of intimidation.

Nipa Kutubu and Kagua Erave will conclude in a few days.

Therefore, Nupiri stressed that there is no need to press the ‘panic button’ with ulterior motives.

“At the end of the day, Mendi and Southern Highlands is our home, and we must at all costs protect it from any unwanted violence and destruction like in 2017.”

Author: 
Loop Author