43 to contest by-election

By ZACHERY PER
THE vacant Kundiawa-Gembogl parliamentary seat must be filled by the PNG National Party, supporters of the late Joe Mek Teine say.
Mek Teine was the sole party member in parliament.
He died in April and 43 candidates have nominated to contest in the by-election, which will be held from July 30 to Aug 5.
Three candidates in the race for the seat are PNG National Party supporters who have been given the blessing of the Chimbu provincial branch party executives headed by former Correctional Services Commissioner Andy Siure.
They are Tangil Iam­bakey Okuk (son of the late Sir Iambakey Okuk), Peter Nime Aglua and Alphonse Kawagle.
In a media conference, the trio vowed to pursue the party’s motto “We serve, you prosper” for the Kundiawa-Gembogl district and to carry on from where the late Mek Teine left off.
Okuk said the Kundiawa-Gembogl district was the only electorate in the country which gave the mandate to the PNG National Party a seat in parliament.
He said it was only proper to see another party member take over from where the late MP left.
His father, the late Sir Iambakey had flown the party’s flag as its leader in the 1980s, rising to become deputy prime minister.
Sir Iambakey was instrumental in the tar-sealing of the Chimbu section of Highlands Highway and bringing Air Niugini Dash Seven flights into many centres, including Kundiawa town.
Aglua said, they, as PNG National Party candidates, were in a better position to complete all outstanding district services improvement programme projects if given the mandate.