Undialu is new Hela governor

NEWLY-elected Hela Governor Philip Undialu has called on his predecessor Francis Potape and other rival candidates to work with him in moving the province forward.
Undialu was declared yesterday by Hela election manager John Tipa after polling 69,241 votes, ahead of Potape on 66,087.
He will join Tari-Pori MP James Marape, Komo-Magarima MP-elect Manasseh Makiba and Koroba-Lake Kopiago MP-elect Petrus Thomas in Alotau for the People’s National Congress Party working retreat to form the government.
“My declaration as Hela governor now completes the Hela election,” Undialu said.
“It is now time to focus on the formation of a new government.”
Undialu is confident that elected MPs in Hela would have a great influence on its development aspirations.
“We will form a formidable unity with Marape as our senior and experienced leader,” the incumbent governor said.
“With me, sitting at the helm as governor, I am determined to address all issues affecting Hela that have been overlooked in the past five years.”
“The people of Hela have spoken through the ballot papers and I want to thank my voters, on whom I based my election platform on — the grassroots who cast 69,241 votes for me.
“They believed in my leadership and I will make sure that all services are distributed fairly and evenly across Hela.”
Undialu thanked the 21 candidates who contested the seat against him.
“I encourage you all to work together with me to move Hela forward,” he said.
“Hela missed out (a lot) due to election petitions that took the first two-and-a-half years, followed by the last two years of the political impasse.
“I am happy that I beat Potape in a very close race.
“All in all, there can only be one winner.
“But if all our elected MPs work together, collaborate and plan, we can drive the progress of Hela and set a good foundation for our future generations.”