Lupari calls for tough laws

 CHIEF Secretary Isaac Lupari says people dismissed from public office under the Leadership Code should be banned for life from holding any other public office. 

He told a meeting of department heads and district administrators in Port Moresby yesterday to discuss next year’s general election that his personal view was that if someone was found guilty of an offence by a court, he or she should not contest the election. 

“That goes for public servants as well,” he said.

“People found guilty (of an offence) by the courts should never hold public office whether it be with the public service, in the political arena, at the local level government or even as a village court magistrate.

“This is going back to building a good leadership base of the principles we heard today – integrity, good governance, accountability.”

He said PNG must nurture a culture of good leadership. 

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said the eligibility of election candidates was not simple because it infringed on the constitutional rights of people. 

Meanwhile, police officers will be deployed to provinces as intelligence officers during the general election, says Deputy Commissioner of Police Jim Andrews.

“We will identify the hot spots and put more men in there,” Andrews said while addressing the meeting.

“Those (areas) that are not hot we will cut down on manpower to save money.

“That is why we’ve divided the police operations into divisions – three provinces per divisional commander. 

“We will assess on that basis and we will deploy the men according to our assessment.”

Andrews said the police would conduct three operations – pre-election (awareness), actual election and post-election.

 “We will have more awareness for the people and they will come freely to vote for their leaders,” he said. 

He said there were 6300 police officers in the country. The plan is to have 10,000 trained officers by 2018.