Democracy in peril

FORMER Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says democracy in the country is under threat, given the number of election-related violence and the hijacking of ballot boxes in certain centres.
O’Neill this week retained his Ialibu-Pangia seat, the fifth time since he first won it in 2002.
He is the leader of the People’s National Congress Party.
He arrived in Port Moresby yesterday from Southern Highlands and urged the people to allow counting to progress without any disruptions.
“If there are any issues, let’s take stock of (them) through the right process, especially (by using) the court of disputed returns,” O’Neill added. He said the General Election 2022 was “by far the worst elections we have held”.
“Hijacking of boxes, rigging of elections taking place at the polling sites, people not allowed to vote and election officials highly compromised,” he said. “I am very surprised to see that the level of violence is increasing despite the fact that we have had many elections.
“We should now be used to elections and accept results, that one has to win and many have to lose after such a challenge. Unfortunately, we are continuing to lose lives, innocent lives. Women and children have been caught in this. The way the General Election (2022) is taking place is quite shameful.”
He said people must understand that the general elections “are not the end of the world”.
“It is just a choice of leadership we are making at this time,” he said.
“Let us try and finish this general election in an orderly manner.
“That is my appeal to everyone.”
He urged Police Commissioner David Manning and Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai to “step up”.
“They are answerable to the people of Papua New Guinea (and should) be independent in the discharge of your duties,” he said.

No recount after quality checks, says RO

By LULU MARK
THERE will be no recounting of ballots in the Moresby North-West seat as requested by candidates because quality checks had already been done, an official says.
Returning officer Vincent Manukayasi said counting for the electorate in the National Capital District would continue despite another petition submitted by some candidates to stop the counting until their concerns had been addressed.
He said the second petition from the candidates received on Wednesday night highlighted the same requests made in the first petition on Tuesday.
“The candidates have called again for a recount of the (votes in the) boxes we have already counted,” he said.
“I will not do that. In the counting process, we did the quality checks after all the boxes were counted.
“It is during the quality checks that the candidates request to recount and related concerns could be looked into.”
Manukayasi said they did not have the time to go through all the boxes again and recount the votes.
“We still have a lot of boxes yet to count,” he said.
Manukayasi suspended the counting at 10pm on Wednesday in response to the candidates’ requests as he had the power to do so.
Yesterday, he consulted Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai.
He said the gate to the counting centre at the Public Institute of Leadership and Governance in Waigani was locked.
Counting officials were not allowed into the counting area until 4pm when it resumed.
He said counting was conducted openly in the presence of scrutineers and police and recorded on the closed circuit television (CCTV).
Manukayasi said any more delays to the counting process could result in them missing the July 29 deadline for the return of writs.