Government fails to implement Observer Group's recommendations

Papua New Guinea Government has not implemented some of the recommendations made from the Commonwealth Observer Group from the 2012 National elections.

And one of the recommendations made was in regards to the boundaries.

However, Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group Sir Anand Satyanand said unlike other countries in the Commonwealth, PNG has a system where the Parliament makes the decision and not the Boundaries Commission.

“A number of recommendations are still pending which the Government and the Boundaries Commission yet to undertake.

“Unlike other countries where the Boundaries Commission makes the decision, in PNG it is different.

“It is the Parliament that makes the decision,” he said.

He said it is not their business to deal with it as they are only here to observe and make recommendations.

He added that some of the recommendations they will be doing in this election will be a repeat from what had been recommended in 2012.

Sir Anand further clarified that PNG is a very complex country with more than 800 languages spoken by people and the geographical terrains always hindered some of the government services.

“This means, as a result of the rejection of the recommendations of splitting the boundaries, they (boundaries) will remain the same as before, and the number of people in some electorates has grown hugely compared to others.”

He said apart from the recommendations of splitting the boundaries is the duplicating of roles and others.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Observer Group will be in the country to observe the pre-election environment, polling day, the counting and post-election period.

Author: 
Freddy Mou