2017 National Election

Supporters of Parliamentary Leader Don Polye have packed the Granville conference room to officially begin their campaign for the 2017 National Elections.

Polye and his Deputy Parliamentary Leader and Kikori MP, Mark Maipakai, are present at the convention, accompanied by party executives.

It is during the convention that Polye will deliver the party's policies as well as finalise its candidates’ numbers for the elections.

The convention will be held over the next two days.

The Issue of Writs will be on April 20, followed by candidates’ nomination, campaign and election period in June.  

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato revealed that a total of 4068 intending candidates had filled and submitted the candidate bio-data form (Form 29).

According to statistics released by the PNG Electoral Commission, the Highlands Region registered the highest number of intending candidates with a progressive total of 1719.

Followed by Momase with 1017, Southern with 998 and New Guinea Islands with only 334.

The ballot papers are printed in Indonesia.

Gamato, in a brief to Governor-General Bob Dadae, said printing of writs for all the electorates is now underway and will be ready before April 20th, 2017, when the GG officially issues the writs.

He said the Governor General will sign 666 writs, and about 2,000 candidates have expressed interest to contest the national elections.

This was issued in a Circular, dated 07/11/16 to all the provincial authorities, principals, teachers and stakeholders warning them to safeguard the school facilities before, during and after the 2017 National Election. 

He urged schools and other educational institutions to take precautionary measures to ensure that all schools’ assets and facilities are well secured to avoid possible destruction to state assets and disharmony in the school community.

In the Bougainville Peace Road Map, the people of Bougainville will cast their votes in 2019 to decide to be part of Papua New Guinea or become the newest Independent State in the World.  

With the Issue of Writs for the election a month away, PNG Party General Secretary Kila Poka said his party will let the people of Bougainville decide its future.  

The new parties were announced and presented with certificates today as registered political parties approved by the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission.

They will meet in a one hour session on March 3 in Port Moresby to announce their four main policies that they will campaign on in the 2017 national election.

Registrar of Political Parties Dr Alphonse Gelu said the session will not be a debate but to allow the leaders of these parties to showcase themselves and their parties.

In preparation for the 2017 National General Election, the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) did its electoral roll update for voters in the nation’s capital.   

The exercise ran for 14 days, starting on November 30, with an extra 7 days in case of emergency or necessary security issues.

However, community leaders have claimed that the common roll update exercise, carried out for almost three weeks, has failed due to very poor planning, ineffective implementation and insufficient time allocation.

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said the National Government with the support of Inter-Department Election Committee (IDEC) has established a 2017 election trust account which will facilitate funds coming into PNGEC.

He said in the past PNGEC used the integrated financial management system (IFMS) to manage funds but what normally happens is that after all government accounts are closed, unused funds are returned to the Consolidated Revenue Funds (CRF).

“With the trust account, PNGEC funds will be held back and used during the shut-down period.”

That is the warning to all election officials from Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato.

“Under my watch, I want to ensure that we all change our attitudes, our approaches and our ways of doing election business and manage costs of delivering the elections in a more reasonable and effective way.

“I therefore charge every one of you Election Managers and Assistant Election Managers to manage and deliver the 2017 National and LLG elections in a more cost effective manner.