Marat retains Rabaul open seat

By ABIGAIL APINA
DR Allan Marat has been declared the member for Rabaul open.
He is the second candidate in the province to be declared a member of parliament after Paul Tiensten won the Pomio open seat on Sunday evening.
“I firstly give honour to God as I believe this is the will and purpose of God for the people of this district,” Marat said when addressing a small crowd there to witness his declaration.
He told the people he believed God had blessed the district, saying the election was God’s process to form the next government.
“I will try my best to deliver in the next five years,” he said.
Marat thanked polling and counting officials who served the district, saying he admired the tireless commitment they had shown throughout the election period.
He thanked candidates and scrutineers for their cooperation and the people of Rabaul for their mandate.
“The people have spoken,” he said.
Marat wept in front of the people after thanking his family for their support since nomination day.
Marat won the seat with 5,725 votes after gaining 204 votes in the ninth exclusion yesterday.
That exceeded the absolute majority of 5,579 votes.
Raymond Paulias was second with 3,268 votes, followed by William Kaputin on 2,164 votes.
There were 12,652 allowable ballot papers in the district, of which 416 were declared informal.
Provincial election steering committee chairman Clement Irasua thanked all candidates, their scrutineers and polling and counting officials for cooperating and finishing counting ahead of schedule.