New rules

Main Stories, National
Source:

The National, Wednesday 10th April, 2013

By Shirlyn Belden 

POLITICAL parties, which win less than five seats following a general election, will be required to amalgamate with larger parties under revised laws due to be presented to cabinet today.

The revised Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) will also elevate party constitutions to a subsidiary law and have stringent requirements for parties to have 500 financial members in each of the four regions of the country. 

Registrar Dr Alphonse Gelu told The National yesterday in Port Moresby that further changes include : 

Registration of political parties be done by the IPPCC and not with Investment Promotion Authority (IPA); 

lStringent requirements for party registration; (500 membership per region, 2000 members in the four regions, K100,000 party funds and K20,000 registration fee); 

Grounds for cancellation of registration of parties;

Increase of penalties, example non-compliance on financial returns; 

Increase of funding from the central fund to parties from K10,000 to K20,000; 

Threshold – must win five seats or more. Parties gaining less than five will be required to amalgamate; and

l Constitutional amendment as proposed in the revision and amendment of Standing Orders of Parliament. 

The review has looked at the provisions disqualified by the Supreme Court decision in 2010 and made compulsory adjustments to the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the Parliament to give effect to the revised OLIPPAC law. 

“I will meet with the cabinet and submit the review tomorrow (today). 

“The review has reached its final stage and changes are expected to take place, basically on the issues faced that are deemed necessary to accommodate,” Gelu said. 

“The review has taken a whole range of consulting with relevant bodies and stakeholders.” 

The revised law would also allow for empowering of poltical parties to deal with disciplinary matters critical to political stability and not to the OLIPPAC, giving prominence under the OLIPPAC to political parties in managing their own affairs and holding party executives and MPs accountable in their works. 

Consultation on the review of the OLIPPAC began in July 2012 where the IPPCC has worked closely with the Constitutional Law Reform Commission and the Department of Attorney General. 

The IPPCC has planned for an in-house training of staff on the revised law before a comprehensive awareness is carried out across the country. 

Gelu also said developing and strengthening of political parties in PNG was the main agenda under the new learning and development plan created by the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission. 

The plan which is currently ta­king place in Port Moresby has seen about 20 representatives from the 46 registered politcal parties participating in the intensive training facilitated by IPPCC and stakeholder, the Canberra-based Centre for Democratic Institution. 

The plan is a five-year development strategy that aims to build capacities of political party officials to elevate their standards in their roles and performances in the country. 

The training allowed for political parties and IPPCC to meet and discuss openly on necessary matters as an avenue to identify possible steps for improvement.