Petition against Powi’s win to proceed to trial

AN election petition challenging the win of Southern Highlands Governor William Powi will proceed to trial following a ruling yesterday that found two grounds of competency.
Justice George Manuhu, in the Waigani National Court, upheld grounds raised by the petitioner Pastor Bernard Kaku through his lawyer Ralph Diwani that the declaration of Powi was premature and the question of whether his declaration under special circumstance had no legal issues.
There were nine grounds but seven of them were struck out in a ruling of objections to competency.
The case returns to court on Friday to confirm dates for directions hearing before trial.
Diwani said the ground of premature declaration of the results of the Southern Highland regional seat survived because the limited preferential voting (LPV) system was not fully exhausted, “because it was only after the primary counts were the declaration made”.
In relation to the declaration under special circumstances, “the judge says that there were legal issues yet to be determined as long as the declaration under special circumstances existed.
“We have survived the competency, and we are now looking forward to the trial,” Diwani said.
When asked for the number of witnesses who would testify, Diwani said: “That is still a matter to be confirmed in the trial but we have only five now.
“But we will have to review the grounds since two have gone through, we’ll have a further review then decide again on the number of witnesses.”
Meanwhile, Kaku said he was pleased with the court’s decision.
“It is still going through its process, but we are happy that we are going to trial,” Kaku said.
“I would like to encourage our supporters here in Port Moresby and back at home to keep cool and carry on with their normal daily activities.”
He said he had been pursuing the case since 2017.