PNG Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato will be asked to put out a public announcement to put to rest his decisions on the 2017 National Elections.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill made this response in response to series of questions from Deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil, today in Parliament.
“Mr Speaker, I will get the Electoral Commissioner to put a public advertisement on his decision about printing and election dates,” O’Neill said.
“Electoral Commissioner must be transparent and accountable to the people of Papua New Guinea so everybody is aware of how he is conducting the elections.”
All independent constitutional office in the country come under the Prime Minister’s Department but does not get orders from the prime minister.
Basil asked what security features is it that PNGEC went to Indonesia to print the election ballot papers and not Australia or New Zealand which have similar court jurisdiction to recoup government monies if the agreement is not met.
He also asked if the ballot papers printed will not be generic for all provinces and districts and will not infringe on PNG’s international security.
Caption: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.