Duma retains seat

The National Main Stories

By ELIAS LARI
RE-ELECTED Hagen MP William Duma says the K10 million allocated by the Government to MPs each year is inadequate to meet everyone’s needs in the electorate.
Duma was declared the winner yesterday at the counting centre in Mt Hagen after polling 48,528 votes.
The runner-up was James Puk (Independent) on 13,946.
Duma, the parliamentary party leader of the United Resource Party, said Mt Hagen was the regional centre for the Highlands and he would try to develop it further with the funds allocated.
He said the K10 million allocated each year could not meet everyone’s development needs.
“Mt Hagen also misses out on receiving the Goods and Service Tax (GST) collection from the provincial government (which is) also a contributing factor,” he said.
“We will try to fix it.”
Duma thanked the people for having confidence in his leadership.
“We will look at what we can do as budgeting K10 million for the entire electorate is not enough,” he said.
Duma said the provincial government should pay the city authority the GST to maintain city operations.
“I will do what I can to do something for the city,” he said.
Meanwhile, Duma thanked his fellow contestants, saying leadership was not an easy task.
He described the Hagen open seat as “expensive”.
“But this is politics,” he said.
“My main concern is to change the image of the city and do what I can for the people.”

Law allows extension for writs return: Kwa

By REBECCA KUKU
THE law provides for an extension of the deadline for the return of writs but the decision has to be made by the Electoral Commissioner, a top public servant says.
Department of Justice and Attorney-General Secretary Dr Eric Kwa said the law stated that the writs must be returned on the fifth anniversary of the last Parliament sitting, which was July 29, 2022.
But the law allowed for an extension of the deadline, to be decided by the Electoral Commissioner, provided the majority of the writs had been returned.
He said the precedence was set in the 2017 General Elections when 10 electorates were given an extension for their return of writs.
“They managed to complete their counting and declare their members who attended the first sitting of Parliament,” he said.
Kwa said in the 2022 General Election, the Governor-General has set Aug 4 as the date of the first sitting of Parliament.
“The Electoral Commission based on the number of seats declared can extend the return of writs for electorates that are yet to complete counting to a date before the first sitting of Parliament.”

Half of voters denied: Report

THE Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) found that up to 50 per cent of Papua New Guineans were denied their constitutional rights to elect their leaders in General Election 2022 (GE22) because the names of eligible voters were missing in the Common Roll 2022.
“Our interim report also featured numerous allegations of bribery and threat involving candidates’ scrutineers,” COG chairman and former Nauru president Baron Divavesi Waqa said.
“We also witnessed the distribution of money and food to voters during polling.”
Waqa said the COG’s interim report stressed that the Electoral Commission (EC) was in dire need of decentralising its powers.
The report’s three key findings are:

  • NUMEROUS allegations of bribery and threats by scrutineers;
  • INADEQUATE efforts to facilitate the inclusion and participation of women, youths, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups; and,
  • LACK of media access to the EC and an absence of updates on its website and social media channels, fuelling possible misinformation.

The report also addressed seven key challenges and also listed five recommendations on how PNG might improve future general elections and for a free, safer and more inclusive electoral process.
Waqa said the EC had been highly centralised, which in turn challenged the effective delivery of GE22.
“The PNG Government should release sufficient funding to the EC on an annual basis to effectively carry out its duties over the electoral cycle.”
He said late and insufficient disbursement of funds, unpaid bills and allowances from previous GEs created a lack of trust in the EC by suppliers and so impacted the timely and safe conduct of GE22.
“We have been here since June 28, and our group comprised political, electoral, media, gender and civil society experts from commonwealth countries, mainly from across the Pacific.”