Addressing election-related issues

Political problems have developed since the first national election in 1964. From switching to the Westminster system to ignoring warnings and advise, all these have accumulated to problems faced today. In the coming 2022 national election, Prime Minister James Marape hopes to correct those wrongs, CLIFFORD FAIPARIK writes

PAPUA New Guinea has been having problems with the national elections since the first one in 1964.
These problems rose with the nation’s political development progress from colonialism to nationhood.
The first electoral commissioner Robert Bryant (1967-69), in his research paper on elections in PNG, said elections in the Westminster system was something new for Papua New Guineans.
“Leaders are not voted but stand out in communities and here you want to unite people scattered all over the hills, bush and swamps to come together to vote for a leader,” he said.
He predicted that there would be problems faced in future elections and politics.
This is when a leader stands out in tribes and his powers accumulate wealth, pride and family domination in politics and it will be interpreted in the Westminster government system where to have access to wealth and power, one has to get into politics through crook or fair election.

1964 and 1968 elections was the curiosity period
Due to people having little or nil education, the first problem faced in elections was lack of awareness.
And so electoral officers went and carried out awareness on how people should vote.
During that time, the problems faced were lack of awareness, disseminating of information and transportation of ballot boxes to remote areas.
Bryant reported that ghost names were included in the common roll.
However ghost names at that time was not linked to election fraud. It was to avoid paying head tax and was detected among voters in areas such as Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul.
Voters changed their names to avoid paying head taxes or took up Western names to show their status in the modern society.
But it was different in the villagers where everyone knew each other.
There were no reports on bribery and election violences, intimidation, threats, coercion etc.
Campaigns were done by educated people and candidates were voted for their education background, their knowledge of the modern politics and exposure to Western jobs.
Mostly, it was the surrounding communities that know the candidates.
That time, villagers had respect for educated people so they sat down and listened.
Bryant reported foul play at the booths where polling officers were assisting illiterate voters to fill out ballot papers.
But then it was not reported that the polling officers committed fraud for supporting a candidate to mark out the ballot papers for illiterate voters. Also, there were no reports of polling officers influencing illiterate voters by voting candidates.
The report stated that polling officials had no intention of foul play but were helping illiterate voters to vote for their candidates.
However, despite the lack of awareness and mostly illiterate voters, there was no informal votes in the voting poll result as polling officers had helped the illiterate voters to vote.
Interestingly, in a time when majority of voters were illiterate, it was reported that there was no informal votes.
Also, the reports were accepted as the polling officers were supervised by the Australian electoral officers.
Election violence was uncommon.
There was no history of election violence in the Highlands.
However, there were reports of election violence in coastal areas such as East Sepik, East New Britain, West New Britain and Central where cargo cults and secession movement were rife leading up to the 1972 national election.
Even in the Chimbu regional seat in 1972, Post Courier reported people voting in church link than haus lain or tribal link.
It reported that the hot favourites were Sir Ignatius Kilage and Sir Iambakey Okuk (both deceased).
But it was the battle of the churches between Lutherans (Okuk) and Catholic (Kilage) of which Okuk won.

Signs of election fraud, violence and regionalism seen in the 1977 and 1982 elections
In the 1964 to 1972 elections, Papua New Guineans were more concerned about coming out of colonialism and how an independent nation uniting 800 different language speakers will run its own political, economic and social affairs. After Independence on Sept 16, 1975, heated political debates in controlling the Government and regionalism came into domain leading up to the 1977 national elections.
In the move to question Independence, (late) Sir Iambakey campaigned and rallied all Highlands politicians to form a block and not to bow down to coastal politicians.
Signs of political influence in the police force during elections was seen in the 1982 elections, when Sir Iambakey requested then police commissioner Henry Tokam to remove Chimbu police commander Tony Wagambie Snr.
Sir Iambakey was suspicious that Wagambie might cause his loss in the election as he was from Sepik and would work in favour of Sir Michael Somare.
At that time, Somare was leading Pangu Pati and it was a bitter political enemy to Okuk who was the National Party leader.
Bribery and enticement were noticed but then it was uncommon and was taken for granted.
This was displayed when Sir Iambakey, demonstrating his tribal chieftaincy status (bigman), dressed in full traditional attire and handed out beer cartons to the public at the Kundiawa Airport when contesting for the 1982 Chimbu regional seat.
It was in the 1982 national election that political interference, bribery, intimidations, common roll fraud and the electoral commission facing lack of funds to prepare for election were experienced.
In the 1987 election report, preparation for 1992 elections and onwards, then electoral commissioner Luke Lucas recommended the government provide a budget for the commission in a way that planning could be facilitated and it could be self-accounting.
He suggested that the national and local level governments elections should be done at the same time.

Biometric voting mooted after 1982 elections to prevent future election fraud
Lucas expressed the need for biometric voting and suggested that the voter identification tribunal be established, that on enrolment, each person to be given a voter identification card which one should produced during voting.
Lucas noticed that election fraud would become serious as was predicted by the first electoral commissioner in 1968.
And to contain electoral fraud, Ruben Kaiulo, the electoral commissioner in 1991, commissioned a National Research Institute team to visit parts of the Highlands and funded an in-depth research into causes of election violence, issues and behaviour of certain groups.
The report found that causes of violences were tribal status and greed that drove one to aspire to high political office, supported by inducement that go with MPs office.
All these reports were brushed aside by the government.
In the 1997 electoral election reports to the government , Kaiulo still repeated what his predecessor Lucas revealed 10 years ago of unpreparedness of the election commission due to lack of funding especially to update the common roll and security.
Nothing was done.
And 20 years later in the 2017 national election report to the government, electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato, mentioned election violence, threats intimidation, election fraud, transportation, insufficient financial support prior to the enrolment update exercise.
The electoral processes should be improved and strengthened, including boundaries, electoral rolls, registration, and verifications, well in advance of the 2022 national election.
He repeated what Lucas had warned 30 years ago about if nothing tangible was done to prepare for future electoral events, PNG would continue to face challenges in years to come, thereby, endangering the vibrant democracy of the country.
And 2022 election is just around the corner.

Preparations for the 2022 National elections
These problems, associated with elections, is the result of past governments not taking into account the advice and recommendation of past electoral commissioners.
And now the 8th Prime Minister James Marape is taking heed of all these warnings to achieve a desirable 2022 national election.
And he made plans to prepare the Electoral Commission with funds for the election.
“I will make some announcements about our elections preparations after we pass the 2021 National Budget,” Marape said.
Marape is also planning to have the biometric voting system in place for the 2022 election.
“We have trialled it out during the Goroka by-election and the local level government by-elections for Poreporena ward in the Motu Koitabu Assembly in the National Capital District and the Kupiano ward in the Abau, Central,” he said.
“And we have seen that it was very successful.
“We will trial it out again in the Bougainville Regional national by-election and get it into a bigger scale in the 2022 National elections.
“We have trialled for two polling booths for male and females in these by-elections and it was successful.
“This is our effort for a fair voting for everyone to make their own choice.
“I want to assure the country that for the 2022 National Election, we will prepare well in the 2021 National budget to support the Electoral Commission.
“We will see what had happened in the Goroka by-election, Menyamya by-election and the 2017 national election.
“So that voters will have a better process in voting for their desired candidates in the 2022 national election.
“We are looking at the programme to unify Common Roll updates and National Identification cards to be used as a platform for 2022 elections.
“It is 18 months away but we will allocate funds in preparations for the 2022 national election.
“We want to have cameras at the polling booth just like the in Goroka by-elections and tidy up what happened in 2017.”

• Clifford Faiparik is a journalist with The National