East Sepik decision illegal: EC

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
East Sepik provincial assembly’s decision to pass a resolution to have people vote directly for local level government presidents is illegal, says Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato.
He said this yesterday after East Sepik governor and assembly chairman Allan Bird said that they passed a resolution in a special assembly meeting in Wewak last week for people to vote directly for LLG presidents and not councilors.
“The National Executive Council has already made the decision to have the people vote for the councilors in the 2018 LLG elections throughout the country,” Gamato said.
“Then the councilors will go to their respective LLG assemblies to vote for the LLG presidents.
“They (assembly) should have sought advice from the Provincial Affairs and Local Level Government Department before passing the resolutions.” Gamato said that the NEC decision had already been sanctioned by the governor-general.
“It has become a law that there will be only one election for the ward councilors. That NEC decision stands, ” he said.
“I don’t make the decisions and the PNG Electoral Commission doesn’t make the laws.
“The laws are made by Cabinet and Parliament through the regulations of the Organic Law on National Elections.
“We are now preparing for only one election for the ward councilors.”
The LLG elections for the 6033 wards will be held next month
A senior officer with the Provincial Affairs and LLG Department said that the resolution passed by the East Sepik assembly was out of order and had no effect.
“How the voting of the LLG elections will be done is not a matter for any provincial assembly to decide,” the officer said.