Lawyers warned of judicial abuse

By BEVERLY PETER
NATIONAL Court Judge Joseph Yagi has warned lawyers to stop using the judicial review process to file election dispute cases.
“The judicial review and other court processes used by an aggrieved party in the election process are improper, incompetent and an abuse of process,” he said.
Judge Yagi yesterday dismissed an application filed by former National Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop to review the Electoral Commission’s decision to recount the regional ballot papers.
Parkop is currently leading in the race for the seat.
Judge Yagi said the court only had the power to hear election disputes through petitions after the writs were returned.
“Disputing the return of writs and declaration is the only process recognised and authorised by law.
“The law does not recognise any other process,” he said.
Judge Yagi said the judicial review under Order 16 of the National Court rule should not be used as a guide for a petition.
“It should not be used midstream while the election process is yet to be completed with a return of writs or a declaration,” he said.
“In my view, the scheme of the organic law does not foresee a piece-meal approach to resolve disputes arising during the conduct of the election process.”
Judge Yagi accepted the submission by Solicitor-General Tauvasa Tanuvasa that Parkop’s application was incompetent and an abuse of process.
“I have also accepted the State’s submission under Section 126 (6) of the constitution that no person or authority is to control the Electoral Commission in the performance of his powers and functions,” he said.
Judge Yagi also agreed with the State that Parkop’s originating summons was defective.
“The court has wide discretion to amend the originating process but it follows with the permission of the court in situation where the originating summon had been served.
“In this case, the amended summon was served without seeking permission to amend nor granted permission by the court,” he said.

Sinai to wait for remaining writs

ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai says he will continue to receive the writs for the remaining seats yet to declared, before he takes them all to Government House.
“While I have returned the majority of the writs last Friday to the Governor-General (Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae), the remainder will follow as they are received by the commission,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“This is provided for under the legal framework.
“I will invoke Section 81 (3) of the Electoral Law to extend the date for the return of writs for those specific provincial and open electorates.”
Sir Bob accepted and signed 84 writs last Friday, and 21 on Tuesday before the first sitting of Parliament after the General Election 2022.
A by-election will be held for the North Bougainville seat being declared vacant after the passing of the winner William Nakin.
Sinai urged election officials in the remaining 12 electorates to speed up counting.
He also urged political parties, candidates, supporters and scrutineers to respect the election process and allow counting to progress until winners are declared.
The 12 writs yet to be returned to Government House are for Eastern Highlands Provincial, Chimbu provincial, Kerowagi Open, Southern Highlands provincial, Lagaiap Open, National Capital District regional, Moresby North-East, Moresby North-West, Kabwum Open, Markham Open, Rai Coast Open and Madang provincial.

Sinai explains why Kabwum and Markham seats accepted

By LULU MAGINDE
ELECTORAL Commissioner (EC) Simon Sinai says he accepted as the winners of the Kabwum and Markham seats in Morobe the two candidates leading during counting before some ballot papers were burnt.
He said he made the decision after consulting lawyers and election officials.
“The commission took the view that to conduct a supplementary or a by-election in these two electorates would mean that the EC is surrendering its powers and authority to criminal elements to disturb the counting processes at any time,” he said.
The two writs however, when taken up with others to Government House on Tuesday for signing before Parliament held its first sitting, were not signed.
Therefore Kabwum MP Patrick Basa and Markham MP Koni Iguan could not be sworn in with others as their writs had not been accepted by Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae.
Sinai said the decision to accept the winners of the Kabwum and Markham seats “was not taken lightly but (reached) after continuous consultation with legal experts and commission officials”.
He said he accepted the winners of the two seats “under special circumstances provided under organic law and in consultation with the returning officers, Morobe election manager, the Electoral Commission legal team and management”.
He said the burning of ballot papers in the two districts was “a pre-planned sabotage by the supporters of candidates who knew they were going to lose”.
He said by accepting the two writs, “the Electoral Commission is sending a strong message that (it) will not give in to disruptions of the election process”.
Clerk to Parliament Kala Aufa confirmed that 105 writs were returned to him from Government House on Tuesday.
The writ for North Bougainville was also returned but a by-election would be held after the winner, William Nakin, passed away recently.

Parlt to play a vital role for B’ville: Toroama

PARLIAMENT will play a pivotal role in determining Bougainville’s political future when it ratifies the 2019 Bougainville independence referendum results, says Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) President Ishmael Toroama.
Congratulating Prime Minister James Marape on his re-election for a second term, he said the referendum showed “a clear 97.7 per cent outcome where Bougainvilleans voted for political independence from PNG”.
“Since my inauguration as president in 2020, Prime Minister Marape and I have built a rapport based on mutual trust and respect despite our differing opinions on Bougainville’s political future,” he said.
Toroama said the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) was clear on how the ABG and PNG Government must implement its provisions on Bougainville’s political future.
“There are no short cuts,” he said.
“The BPA’s implementation must be done according to
the existing legislative framework on peace-building on Bougainville.
Meanwhile, the PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a statement yesterday said it “takes comfort with Marape’s commitment to address the recent electoral failures and to address issues that have shaken business and investment confidence in recent times”.