Leaders call for three govts’ elections to be held at same time

FORMER LLG council presidents in Morobe are calling on the Electoral Commission to ensure all three tiers of government systems go to polls at once.
They said conducting elections for seats separately was a waste of financial resources and delayed the delivery of services.
Former Nanema-Kareba president Paul Anis, Job Talaubem of Kome council in Menyamya and Yalambing Yabi from Onga-Waffa in Markham district said in the period after the national election, while waiting writs for the local level government, “successive national leaders pull strings around to scare and use intending president and council candidates as puppets”.
They said such an exercise required voters to go through the same election processes.
That, they said, saw people interest in voting or mark ballot papers incorrectly resulting in the creation of informal votes.  
A well-known community leader in Menyamya district, Martin Lazarus, supported the call.
He said supporters of other losing candidates in national elections “take this as an opportunity to cause unnecessary troubles”.
“Going to the polls to elect presidents and councillors later disrupts the time frame for national and LLG leaders to align their plan and implement the programs and delivery of services,” Lazarus said.
“Only one budget has to be allocated to run all four elections for the national and council seats simultaneously.
“That could save cost, time and a lot of effort.
“After declaration of successive leaders, they all go into taking oaths of duties and responsibilities on same date then begin implementing their duties.
“It means the national government shoots four birds at once,” Lazarus said.
He said even the LLG elections were becoming like national elections and the electoral commission must think innovatively to save cost and minimise troubles during the election period.