PM launches inquiry into polls

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has launched a public inquiry into the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government elections.
The inquiry will be undertaken by the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission. It has been given an 18-month timeframe with a funding of K10 million.
O’Neill said the election report tabled in Parliament was rejected because nothing had been done on the boundaries.
“Given the experience of the report of the electoral boundaries commission in the last parliament where report was presented to parliament in the last year of the term, the leaders felt that not enough awareness was done on the new boundaries suggested to them” he said.
“That is why they rejected the report. We do not want a similar outcome after a long review has been conducted.”
He said the review process was one aspect of it.
“I know we are going to discuss whether Limited Preferential Voting (LPV) is the right way to conduct elections or the first-past-the-post is the right outcome that the country requires.
“The LPV has got its advantages as well.
“It reduces violence and allows campaigns to be a bit more peaceful in parts of our country. Generally that has been achieved.
“But the process of the counting and results coming out has been a challenge in itself.
“After voting, the intimidation and delays happening in the counting rooms are unnecessary and cause a lot of stress on candidates and the people who want to see the results as quickly as possible.
“We need to take into account all that has happened.
“When counting is centralised in some areas, those communities surrounding the town or area have controls over the counting process.
“So are we achieving the outcome that the voters have chosen and these are issues that the review team needs to address when they do the consultation process.
“The participation level is there by the people we want to see a fair outcome that is representative of their wishes and their votes that have taken place.”