Opposition Leader Don Polye has warned the Electoral Commissioner, Patilias Gamato, that his life will be under threat if he continues to facilitate, what Polye alleges, is a rigged election to re-elect the Peoples National Congress back into Parliament.
Polye made the threat saying the National Elections were a matter of life and death in this country and warned the Electoral Commissioner not to facilitate an undemocratic election.
A fired up Polye made the statements in a media conference claiming he has evidence of foul play being orchestrated by politicians and Patilias Gamato, to rig the elections to favour the current ruling Peoples National Congress (PNC) Party
“He’s facilitating Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to be elected again. Mr Gamato is facilitating the Government and PNC to come back again.
“And I am warning again the Electoral Commissioner not to do this. I’m warning him. You be cautioned and you don’t do that. Because Papua New Guineas are watching very carefully and there’s no leader here who is dumb and stupid and an idiot. We are more intelligent than you.
“If you do this you are asking for trouble. I’m warning you! Said Polye.
Polye said evidence he has received revealed directions made for ballot papers to be printed in Indonesia, in a company which has interest in there by PNG politicians.
This, he alleges, paves the way for duplicate ballot papers to be printed and used during polling period to rig the elections.
He also said the submission of Form 29 by intending candidates before the issue of writs was illegal and alleges this information given early will be passed onto PNC so that intending candidates can be lured to them.
Also the unprepared common roll three months before the elections was illegal.
Polye highlighted the proposed changes such as the increase in nomination fees from K1,000 to K10,000 and the reduction in the election period from eight weeks to four weeks, saying it only further added to ensuring the PNC led collation returned.
“I’m cautioning you to step within the periphery of your jurisdiction, not to go out of it.
“So this issues that I’ve raised here I have evidence for all of them.
Asked by the media if he will refer Gamato to the Ombudsman Commission, Polye said “What I do to him depending on Ombudsman Commission is small. People are going to do big things to him.”
Meanwhile Gamato told Loop PNG that the threats made by Polye was unbecoming of a leader and below the belt.
He rebutted the allegations by Polye categorizing them as unfounded and said he was not facilitating or rigging the National Election for any politician or Party and every decision he has made has been independent without any influence.
“As a leader he should know his limits and boundaries. He should not be threatening me. If he threatens me I will refer him to police.
“I’m not scared about his threats. As a leader he should not be doing that. He is going way below the belt.
Gamato confirmd with Loop PNG that the printing of the ballot papers were going to be done in Indonesia only because the cost of printing them at the Government Printer was almost three times higher (see separate story).
He said he was a running an election at a very low cost without any influence from any politician and asks that the Opposition Leader let him concentrate on preparing the 2017 Elections.