A price to pay for LLG elections

 THREATS by service providers to disrupt this month’s local level government (LLG) elections should not be taken lightly by the Government.

Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen, who sounded the alert this week, says the amount owed by the commission to service providers is K12.8 million – outstanding since last year’s national election.

He says the commission has no money to settle this debt. 

Adding to his woes, the K50 million allocation from the Government for the LLG elections is not enough.

“The K50 million is very insufficient and the Electoral Commission will not carry out most of its LLG elections plans which will affect the outcome as to date, an amount of K15 million remains outstanding from the 2012 national elections,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Trawen has been knocking on the Government’s door for the past six months pleading for an additional K30 for the LLG elections and to clear its accounts with last year’s service providers who are now threatening to disrupt the elections.

His requests has fallen on deaf ears in Waigani. 

If the Government is not listening to the country’s most seasoned chief electoral officer then who will? 

There is no doubt that Trawen is caught in a dilemma.

Without the additional  money, Trawen is adamant that the Electoral Commission is hamstrung and its LLG elections plans in disarray.

The Government may have its reasons for not coughing up the extra amount but Waigani’s silence is not helping matters at all.

Since Trawen’s first public statement on additional funding for the LLG elections, no response has been forthcoming from either the prime minister or his deputy, who is also responsible for the elections in his capacity as Inter-Government Relations Minister.

The K30 million question is: Will the Government give additional funds to the Electoral Commission for the LLG election and to settle outstanding debts?

The onus may be on Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion, who signed the LLG elections writs yesterday, to clarify the Government’s stance once and for all.

Dion will need to enlighten not only the Electoral Commission and its service providers but the rest of the country, especially the candidates and voters in the forthcoming elections.

As Trawen has stated in no uncertain terms, the success of the LLG elections depends on sufficient funding to the tune of K80 million.

It would be wise of the Government to take heed of the commissioner’s grave concerns and provide the additional funding to ensure the elections are conducted successfully and without disruption from service providers.

Trawen warned on Wednesday that financial problems and disruptive actions by disgruntled service providers in certain parts of the country remained and required urgent attention from the Government.

The electoral commissioner has reported one incident that should ring warning bells in the corridors of Waigani. 

He said that service providers from last year’s national election had forcefully closed a number of provincial electoral officers in Mt Hagen and Madang demanding their outstanding payments by the commission.

Whilst Trawen has appealed to the disgruntled service providers to remain calm and assured them that their dues will be settled, the simple fact remains that the commission is unable to settle its debts without additional support funding from the Government.

With the issuing of the writs yesterday, it is imperative that the Government take urgent measures to ensure the LLG elections are conducted smoothly.

Funding issues must be resolved immediately and if need be, additional funds must be reallocated from the Budget to address the commission’s needs.

The success of these elections will undoubtedly have a flow-on effect on the Government’s development initiatives and programmes for districts and LLGs.

In its much-heralded ‘year of implementation’, the Government cannot afford to let this opportunity go begging.