Marat back as MP

By BEVERLY PETER
THE ruling Pangu Pati has lost a Member of Parliament (MP) after the National Court in Kokopo declared Dr Allan Marat as the duly elected Rabaul MP.
Judge George Manuhu, on Friday, ruled that counting at the Maltech Secondary School Hall on July 14 was hijacked by candidates and scrutineers who had threatened and intimidated the returning officer (RO) to illegally remove Marat’s 21 ballots.
“It is clear and I am satisfied that the removal of the 21 votes constitutes an error, a serious one, that affected the result of the election where Graham Piniau Rumet was declared a winner by only three votes.
“I have considered a recount but a recount is appropriate only when the votes in questions were uncertain.
“In this case, all the ballot papers are accounted for with figures from first to last and benefits from tally sheet which were tendered with consent.
“The only stigma in the counting was the recounts of box one to five. I have found, as a fact, that the recounts of the boxes were unlawful,” he added.
Judge Manuhu then declared Marat as the Rabaul MP for General Election 2022 (GE22) at about 2pm.
The court decision means Pangu’s number of MPs is now 37 (those who joined after GE22 not included) in the 118-seat 11th Parliament.
In GE22, nine candidates contested in East New Britain’s Rabaul with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Electoral Commission (EC) declaring Rumet as the winner with 5,192 votes or a mere three-vote majority.
Incumbent Marat (Melanesian Liberal Party) garnered 5,189 ballots.
Marat filed the petition saying that the EC had committed errors and omissions when the returning officer (RO) conducted a recount after the EC refused Marat’s request for another recount because the margin between him and Rumet was three votes.
The petition proceeded into a trial and completed after an objection to competency and no-case submission by Rumet and the EC were dismissed.
Judge Manuhu said there was no dispute that Marat’s 21 formal votes were rendered informal after the recount.
“The issue was whether the recount by the RO is unlawful or not. I accept the RO’s evidence as the truth on how they were forced into making the decision to conduct a recount.
“On all the evidence, I find that during count six, scrutineers of other candidates became upset when they saw that Marat was maintaining a good lead and they became disruptive.
“They left the venue, regrouped with their candidates, barged into the counting venue and demanded for a recount which the RO refused twice,” Manuhu said.
He said, however, the RO ordered for a recount due to the threats and intimidation.
He added that during the recount, five candidates and scrutineers were directing the RO on whether a ballot paper was formal or informal and in that process, Marat lost 21 formal votes.
It was before the court that 30 votes were rendered informal including Marat’s.
Manuhu said with all the facts and figures available, the court was at liberty to remove the stigma in the counting.
“Threats and intimidation should not be ignored and the result obtained through threats and intimidation should be reversed.
“What was done in the unlawful recount should be undone as this is not rocket science. This is common sense, simple logic and real justice,” he said.
He added that by adding the 30 votes back on the tally of each of the candidates and after the eliminations, Romet’s final tally of 5,192 would be increased by one to 5,193 and Marat’s final tally of 5,189 would be increased by 21 votes to 5,210.
“To the people of Rabaul, Marat is your winner in GE22 and Rumet is the first runner-up,” he added.