Court begins hearing Nipa-Kutubu poll dispute

A COURT of Disputed Returns has begun hearing submissions disputing the win of Nipa-Kutubu MP Pesap Jeffrey Komal in Mendi, Southern Highlands.
First respondent in the matter was Komal with Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen and the PNG Electoral Commission as the second and third respondents respectively.
The hearing started on Monday with counsel Paul Paraka, principal of PNG’s largest legal firm Paul Paraka Lawyers, making formal submissions on behalf of Komal, who is a member of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s People’s National Congress party. Paraka’s submissions continued on Tuesday and yesterday.
The petitioner, Philemon Embel, and his lawyers would respond to these submissions today with a likely decision before the end of the month.
The dispute over the Nipa-Kutubu seat stemmed from an alleged hijacking and counting of seven disputed boxes against the advice of the PNG Electoral Commission during the 2012 general election.
However, counsel for the sitting MP had stated that the manner of any hijacking and marking of ballot papers had not been stated in the petition. Similar arguments were made for the number of votes affected in each polling area and the number of votes scored by each of the candidates, including the first respondent.
Komal, through Paraka Lawyers, is asking the court to declare the petition incompetent and have the matter dismissed as it had failed to comply with section 208(a) and 208(d) and, “therefore, is incompetent pursuant to section 210 of the Organic Law”.