Roll a problem: O’Neill

By MALUM NALU
PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill admitted yesterday that the electoral roll had been a major problem during the general election.
He agreed with many of the comments made by the Commonwealth Observer Group regarding the common roll.
“It is a list that has been updated by the Electoral Commission and has nothing to do with the government,” he said.
“The commission is an independent body. The government supported the common roll update and it is quite disappointing to us that the lists were not in order.
“That is why we, as government, explicitly appealed to the Electoral Commission that they should use the 2012 roll, together with the preliminary roll, so that Papua New Guineans can vote.”
Despite that, he commended how the election has been conducted.
“All in all, the elections right throughout the country has been largely peaceful and in order — for the first time in many elections,” he said.
“This is something that we should give credit to the Electoral Commission for — maintaining a peaceful election nationwide.”
O’Neill yesterday witnessed the declaration of Justin Tkatchenko as the Moresby-South MP at the Kilakila Secondary School by returning officer Michael Are.
He said the return of Tkatchenko showed the people’s faith in the ruling People’s National Congress government.