Simon Sinai has been appointed the Electoral Commissioner, a timely appointment made with few months remaining before the 2022 National General Elections.
The Electoral Commission Appointments Committee (ECAC) has approved the appointment of Mr Sinai as the Electoral Commissioner.
Prime Minister, James Marape and ECAC Chairman said the ECAC has approved to advise the Head of State to appoint Mr Sinai as the Electoral Commissioner for four years or until he reaches 60 years of age. Whichever occurs first, effective from 1st December 2021 and directed the First Legislative Counsel to prepare the necessary instruments of revocation and appointment of Mr Sinai as Electoral Commissioner for gazettal.
The Prime Minister said Mr Sinai was appointed after a thorough screening and vetting process. The ECAC deliberated on a shortlist taking into consideration provisions of the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections.
Following much deliberation, a majority consensus was reached that Mr Sinai stood out as the preferred candidate.
He said Mr Sinai was the successful candidate because he comes with 30 years of experience working with the Electoral Commission.
“During his time with the EC, Mr Sinai was able to identify the most common problems faced in elections and initiated administrative changes to the structure of the Commission and the election process and management," Prime Minister Marape said.
"Mr Sinai also used his experience and demonstrated strong management and leadership skills amid a difficult budgetary environment that has been compounded with the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, and conducted and delivered a satisfactory Menyamya Open By-Election, Goroka Open By-Election, Autonomous Region of Bougainville Regional Elections, the court-ordered Kandep Open recount and the Moresby Northwest By-Election.
“Also, under Mr Sinai's leadership, the Commission successfully trialed the first biometric voting verification system in the Kupiano LLG By-Election.”
The Prime Minister added that Mr Sinai has been Acting on the position for the last 15 months and the successful By-Elections mentioned in this statement show that he has adjusted well to the challenges of the role, making him the ideal candidate for the position.
Additionally, PM Marape said that to have another shortlisted candidate appointed would be disruptive to the progress made under Mr Sinai’s leadership on preparations for the 2022 National General Elections, such as the common roll update, further testing into biometric voter registration, and finalizing other key proposed electoral reforms before 2022.