Electoral Commission

Commissioner, Simon Sinai made the announcement today, after advising that the majority of the writs of 73 will be returned to the Governor General by 4pm today.

Out of the 118 seats, 82 electorates have been declared, while 73 will be returned to the Governor General.

The provincial and electorates yet to return their writs to the Electoral Commissioner include;

Sinai updated the media on the mid polling period and completion of polling in the country.  He shared that polling has started well in the 22 provinces and in 118 electorates. 

“Since we started on the 4^th of July, the updates from last week till today show that polling has been done in 15 provinces across the country and polling is completed in 4 of the provinces which are Hela in the highlands region, East New Britain and New Ireland in NGI, and NCD in Southern region,” he shared.

He said following the decision, the Attorney General has written to Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai advising him of this decision.

The Electoral Commissioner however is yet to make a statement on this landmark ruling and the steps EC has in place to carry out these orders.

“It is only proper for EC to comply with the orders to avoid being in contempt with the law”, he added.

The Solicitor General further explained that the EC must undertake due diligence and put in place a screening process for every candidate who nominates to contest elections.

According to the research, if inflation reaches 100 per cent, it means the roll is double the estimated voting population.

Laveil shared this during the PNG Elections Series presentation facilitated by the Media Development Initiative.

According to Laveil, the trends nationally revealed that roll inflation began at 6 percent in 1987, rose to peak at 75 percent in 2002, before falling in 2007 and again in 2017 to 13 percent.

The intending candidates came to Wabag town on Friday to advise the provincial Electoral Commission office of their intention to protest the appointment.

Lukas Neah, who contested the 2007, 2012 and 2017 elections, highlighted that the same returning officer was named in the 2012 election petition, and was the reason behind their 2017 protest and petition to the election steering committee.

“We have written several letters; we have a big file which is with us and we will present to the Electoral Commission regarding the appointment of the returning officer,” he said.

PNG Electoral Commissioner, Simon Sinai in his discretion as head of the country's election management body has deferred the nominations to allow for the grieving party of late Deputy Prime Minister, Sam Basil to organize proper after his sudden passing. 

Commissioner Sinai said, the United Labour Party (ULP) and all other parties are fundamental to the elections. 

He added that ULP is endorsing candidates around the country and thus will be allowed time to grieve the loss of the late DPM. 

Date for the return of writs remains unchanged. 

The police reservists have been permitted to assist the Royal PNG Constabulary and the Electoral Commission.

The reservist officers will assist over the period of 12th May to 29th July, 2022.

Department of Personnel Management (DPM) Secretary, Taies Sansan said these officers will be put on their normal pay for the period specified, unless the services of a requested officer are essential to be running the Department’s operations, in which he or she must not be released.

This is according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report on Global Population, with findings that show that about 15 percent of the world population live with some form of disability, the majority coming from developing countries.

As such, many are vulnerable and socially excluded, making it difficult for them to access economic opportunities and play an active role in society.

The signing took place at the Electoral Commission head office in the presence of Electoral Commissioner, Simon Sinai and NCD City Manager, Bernard Kipit. 

Mr Kipit said: “It is not easy to run elections and as such, NCDC has come onboard to assist wherever they can to deliver fair elections in the nation’s capital.

Under the agreement, the Municipal Government committed K1.5 million including agreeing to make available recreational parks and stadiums for polling and counting.

However, PNG’s elections have been plagued with an inaccurate electoral roll. Ever since 1987, the number of registered voters on the roll has exceeded the estimated voting population aged 18 years and over.

According to Maholopa Laveil, an Economics Lecturer at the School of Business and Public Policy, University of Papua New Guinea, the electoral roll has been inflated across PNG during the country’s nine election terms.