Security measures lauded

By HARLYNE JOKU
AUSTRALIAN government officials said yesterday they were encouraged by Police Commissioner Gari Baki’s statement on the security measures taken for the elections.
They added that they were pleased of the arrangement by security resources comprising of the police, the Defence force and the Correctional Services.
The senior officials, who did not want to be named, told an election media briefing that they would like to see a trouble-free and fair elections.
The officials said they had not received any official invitation by the Papua New Guinea Government to oversee the elections, however, have written to the Electoral Commission to be accredited to observe the event.
They confirmed they have supported the Papua New Guinea 2007 elections with a total of K10 million in building the capacity of the Electoral Commission in the areas of financial management and technical assistance.
“We are not in a position to guarantee how the polling will be run and the outcome. But we will stick around and provide the support needed for the elections,” they said.
“We are not expecting a worst case scenario. We are confident of the police and security engagement for the elections.”
Regarding the new common roll, the officials said it was a huge task of having to come up with a totally new common roll and definitely there would be problems.
They confirmed that their latest quarterly report had cautioned Australians not to travel to Papua New Guinea, especially the Highlands region during elections time.
They further stressed that the general election is totally Papua New Guinea’s responsibility and not Australia’s.

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