Academic: Polls not about money

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
THE June national election should be about principles and democracy and not about money, an academic said.
Political scientist and senior research fellow at
the National Research Institute Dr Ovoru Sepoe
said there were values
and principles of democracy that needed to be understood.
She added that educating all Papua New Guineans was vital.
Sepoe was speaking at the launch of the Electoral Commission’s education and awareness partnership with Caritas PNG in Port Moresby.
She said there was an enormous need to promote inclusive democracy,
which started with
educating the people on democratic principles and values.
“With that, it will open doors for people living
with disability, the women, the elderly and of course, youths.
“It will allow them to effectively participate in the full
election process without intimidation because they understand.
“This will enable all
the different groups of
different backgrounds  to freely participate,” Sepoe said.
The political scientist challenged civil society organisations to take the role of assessing democracy in between the election so it could give time to change mindsets and attitude of people towards the notion
of a free, fair and safe election.
Sepoe promoted the
need to include women as important agents of change through the awareness process.
“Papua New Guinea needs to embrace women as
partners in changing and
developing our country,” she said.
“By targeting awaareness on educating women we could have them participate more in the election process.” 
She said there was a big challenge to educate citizens to understand the system of government.