Defer polls to 2013, says PFP secretary

By GABRIEL LAHOC
THE 2012 general election should be postponed to 2013 because the regional seats bill is yet to be debated in parliament, a political party says.
People’s First Party secretary general Peter Honale said the bill still had two more readings to go through.
Honale said there was not enough time to pass the bill “because one bill’s reading takes around three months and if the government goes ahead with the election there will be no governors in all provinces”.
He said the regional seats bill was the most important agenda that the Electoral Commission and Boundary Review Commission and other government agencies had failed to address.
He said Electoral Commissioner and Boundary Review Commission chairman Andrew Trawen and his deputy Ben Perry were aware of this outstanding issue and its complications but were not advising the government of the day
“They are saying it’s okay, but they are telling lies. Everything is not okay.
“I want them to tell the people of PNG why they are not advising the government to postpone this election,” he said.
He challenged Trawen and Perry to a public debate on the issue.
“We should postpone the elections to 2013 to have two more readings passed because by August there will be problems,” he said.
He said with the wrong advice, the government had prioritised the bill for 22 reserved seats for women instead of dealing with the regional seats bill.
“There is no need for the 22 women’s seat because they are already represented in the provincial assemblies.
Instead we should only have four reserved seats for the four regions, 22 seats is too expensive and will duplicate the governor’s seats in parliament,” he said.
He warned the realisation of 22 women’s reserved seats “will encourage the youth, people with special needs, churches and business houses to call for fair representation through their own reserved seats in parliament”.
He said he was not denying the women anything because his party was willing to endorse women candidates in the general election and represent the people just like in other democracies where women such as  Helen Clark, Margaret Thatcher and Julia Gillard went on to become prime ministers.
“By law whoever wins the regional seats elections will not enter parliament and take their seats as governors, and this is an outstanding matter that has to be dealt with by the government or else there will be chaos after the election,” he said.