B’ville election set to go

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
IT’s all set to go to elect members of the House of Representatives in Bougainville, following the issuing of writs yesterday.
House Speaker Simon Pentanau issued the writs for the Autonomous Bougainville Government elections to Bougainville Electoral Commissioner George Manu in Buka.
The one-week period for nominations ends next Tuesday.
Polling starts on Aug 12 and ends on Sept 1.
Counting starts on Sept 2 and ends on Sept 14 and the return of writs is on Sept 15.
Voters will elect a president, three women representing North, Central and South Bougainville, and representatives of the 44 constituencies.
“Preparations for this election was challenging especially with the coronavirus pandemic,” Manu said.
“We had difficulties implementing some of our activities due to restrictions put in place.
“Despite these restrictions, we continued our preparations because we want to conduct a free, fair and a credible 2020 ABG general election.
“The completion of the roll update exercise in Bougainville is testament to our drive to make sure that we are prepared in the face
of circumstances beyond our control.”
Manu said they had worked out a standard operations procedure to follow during the election period.
He urged candidates to “campaign in an acceptable manner”.