Philip Undialu

Justice Joseph Yagi is presiding over the trial which commenced last Friday.

Francis Potape’s scrutineer in the election, Tape Pulupe, was called to the stand yesterday to give evidence.

Dr Hewali Hemia’s sole scrutineer in the election was also called yesterday to give evidence.

He was questioned by Philip Undialu’s lawyer on certain parts of his affidavit, which they thought were similar to the affidavit of Potape’s lawyer.

The trial continues.

Potape is challenging Philip Undialu’s declaration of 24 July 2017 in Tari.

He petitioned the court to make findings into the final results of the election and determine who scored the highest votes.

He alleges the Returning Officer did not publicly declare the winner with the votes collected before putting Undialu on the writ.

The issue of the petition is what transpired on 23 July 2017 after he was informed by his scrutineer Tape Pulupe and the Assistant Provincial Returning Officer, Anna Pame, in the afternoon to get ready for his declaration.

Lawyers for petitioner Dr Hewali Hemiya and sitting MP, Philip Undialu, will return to court on Friday for submissions.

Trial in this petition has been complete.

The trial judge will now hear final submissions from counsels before a ruling can be given.

Meanwhile, the other petition that was filed by Francis Potape also disputing Undialu's election as governor has been remitted to the National Court for trial.

The Supreme Court remitted Potape's petition for trial after a successful review.

Trial is yet to commence for Potape's petition.

A three-man Supreme Court bench reinstated the case for trial in the National Court.

Out of the 79 petitions filed disputing election results last year, Potape’s petition is the first to be remitted to the National Court after a successful review by the Supreme Court.

It was dismissed on January 24 as it was found to be incompetent. The National Court saw that essential facts that should have been pleaded to support the two grounds of the petition were not stated.

Francis Potape’s petition challenging Philip Undialu’s election as Hela Governor was dismissed by the National Court on January 24.

The National Court threw out the petition because essential facts were not pleaded to support the two petition grounds.

The court upheld Undialu’s challenge on the competency of the petition, and found alternate pleadings were instead stated, which made it confusing for the court.

Potape was seeking to be declared by the court as member-elect. The court found that relief sought was based on assumptions.

Governor Philip Undialu said according to information they have received so far, most of the powerlines, roads, health and education infrastructure have all crumbled during the quake.

One of the most seriously affected areas is the LNG site and the facilities, which are currently on a temporary shutdown.

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred at 03:44 am on Monday (26 February) in the Southern Highlands region, about 30km South of Tari and about 40km North-West of Lake Kutubu.

Governor for Hela Province, Philip Undialu, told this newsroom that an unconfirmed number of people have been injured while communication with authorities in Hela has been lost.

Undialu said health and education infrastructure have also been damaged and the province is looking at a temporary shutdown of vital services until further notice.

Governor Philip Undialu released a public statement on Tuesday confirming this, and promised that its first priority will be to assist students.

Governor Undialu said officers from Treasury will travel to Tari this week to load the provincial government accounts before money can be withdrawn to implement its first priority of school fees.

However, the Governor has urged parents to be equally responsible and pay up compulsory fees to ensure their children are registered.

He said the government will only assist given the increased number of students.

Francis Potape’s petition was dismissed by the National Court on January 24. He was challenging Philip Undialu’s win as Hela Governor.

He will be seeking leave of the Supreme Court to review the reasons behind the dismissal of his petition next Wednesday.

The grounds of the review are on the basis that the National Court went outside the objection grounds raised by Undialu and made findings on its own.

The high court will hear the review if leave is granted.

The petitioner in the Jimi Open seat has also filed for review in the Supreme Court.

Justice Ellenas Batari today granted an application by Undialu, allowing the trial to be heard separately after the National Court on 17 November last year, ordered that the two petitions go for hearing together.

The court varied the order which earlier joined the two petitions for trial.

The hearing of the petitions will take place pending the outcome of objections filed by the Electoral Commission challenging the competency of the petitions.