No to Hela poll

By DEMAS TIEN
THE National Court in Waigani has refused to allow a by-election to fill the Hela governor’s seat as it is illegal to hold one now less than 12 months before the next general election.
Justice Colin Makail ruled that the Electoral Commission had failed to allow the people to exercise their rights to vote and stand for public office when the office of the governor became vacant on April 28 (when Governor Anderson Agiru passed away).
Makail said to hold a by-election now would be in breach of Section 106(a) of the Constitution.
It states that if the office of an elected member of the Parliament becomes vacant, an election shall be held to fill the vacancy, unless the vacancy occurs within the period of 12 months before the fifth anniversary of the date fixed for the return of writs for the previous general election.
Agiru had won the seat during the 2012 general election.
The writs were returned on July 25 of that year.
Thus if there was to be a by-election, it should have been held before July 26 this year.
Makail said the purpose of the law was to maintain the status quo and to save costs.
“It may be an unsatisfactory and disappointing outcome for the applicant (businessman Larry Andagali who showed his interest to contest the seat in a by-election if one was held) and the people of Hela but that is what the law says,” Makail said in his judgment.
He said the defendants – the Electoral Commission, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, the National Executive Council and the State – breached the right of Andagali to vote and stand for public office (from April 28 to July 26) when they did not allow a by-election.
Andagali filed the application on July 27 requesting the court to declare that his constitutional rights to vote and stand for public office regarding the Hela governor’s seat were denied when the by-election was not conducted within a reasonable time after Agiru’s death.
Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said in his affidavit that the by-election could not be held because there was no money. It required about K9million to hold the by-election.
Makail rejected all the reasons raised by Gamato and ordered the defendants to pay the costs of the proceeding, to be taxed if now agreed.