PNG Electoral Commission

Agents awaiting payment from Electoral Commission

The disgruntle agents turned up at the NCD Electoral Commission office at Boroko on Friday morning demanding answers regarding their outstanding payments.

The situation got rowdy when those responsible from the NCD Electoral roll office came outside to explain the situation to them.

The agents said they have been turning up at the Boroko office for four consecutive Fridays now and have been given the same excuse- “come back next week”.

George Willie was one of those engaged to cover the Morata suburb in the exercise.

PM promises efficient, effective elections

“National elections are the opportunity for our people to have their say and elect the Members of their choosing.

“The Nation’s Electoral Commission has been preparing for this election since 2012, and I am confident that 2017 elections will take place in a transparent way that will deliver certainty for our people.

“We cannot allow the wastage and exorbitant cost that was seen at previous elections to continue.”

PM slams Opposition claims on Electoral Commission

O’Neill said the Electoral Commission is a constitutional office and must not be dragged into politics.

"It his highly disrespectful, and goes against the nature of our democracy, for the Leader of the Opposition to seek to tarnish the reputation of the Electoral Commission as he has done,” the Prime Minister stated in a statement.  

“The Opposition has to respect the fact that the Electoral Commission must remain separate from political debate and be allowed to deliver its mandated job without fear or favour.

Citizens raise concerns on NCD common roll update

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.

Allowances to take up huge slice of election budget

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato is optimistic of a free and fair election, with an allocation of K400 million in the 2017 National Budget handed down by the Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch yesterday in Parliament.

He said more than 30,000 public servants will be engaged as temporary staff during the duration of the election, which is five months away.                

He added that K120 million will be spent on security alone. 

Polling for Goilala set to begin

The training will wrap up by tomorrow as polling in Goilala area is set to begin this week.

Initially polling was supposed  to begin today, but training was halted due to the late payment to airlift officials into the polling area.

Meantime, the PNG Electoral Commission anticipates the polling to start by the end of this week.

Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen tells PNG Loop that a total of 33 candidates are vying for the vacant Goilala open seat following the death of the late MP Daniel Mona earlier this year.