Court quashes Vele’s bid

 By CHARLES MOI

A JUDGE has thrown out an election petition by Wari Vele against National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop because it did not have sufficient grounds to proceed it to trial.

Justice Stephen Kassman upheld the objection to competency by Parkop and the Electoral Commission saying there were no more grounds left for the petition to proceed to trial. 

Vele had filed the petition against Parkop and the commission disputing the validity of the election result that declared Parkop the Governor of NCD.  

Vele argued there were errors and omissions by the commission, which did not accept 12 disputed ballot boxes from the Moresby North-East electorate. 

Vele claimed the 12 disputed ballot boxes contained about 9,000 votes, which could have affected the final election result. 

Parkop and the commission argued that the petition failed to comply with the Organic Law and that Vele failed to show how the alleged errors and omissions by the commission were committed. 

Kassman said the decision to put the number of ballot boxes at polling booths in the three electorates were at the discretion of the electoral commission under the Organic Law. 

Kassman said Vele failed to plead that the commission’s decision to put only one ballot box for polling booths in NCD breached a statutory authority or breached the law. 

He said the Electoral Commission’s decision to remove the 12 disputed ballot boxes remained lawful because the decision was undisputed.

Parkop, who is the NCD Governor, looks after the Moresby North-East, Moresby-South and Moresby North-West electorates.