Regional candidates petition advisory committee to fail elections in NCD

By CLEMENT KAUPA
A GROUP of regional candidates in the National Capital District have petitioned the Election Advisory Committee to fail the elections in the district.
But the Ombudsman Commission yesterday told the petitioners to find out first if the committee existed.
In a reply to the petition, dated Aug 1, 2012, the commission said: “As the election advisory committee considers matters relating to elections that are referred to it by the Electoral Commission, we advise you to confirm if an election advisory committee is in place to consider the content of your letter and for the Electoral Commission to refer the issues you have raised in your letter to the advisory committee.”
In the meantime, the commission advised the group to take the matter to the Court of Disputed Returns as their issues were matters related to the elections.
Regional candidates Margaret Loko, Michael Kandiu, Aiwa Olmi, John Endemongo Kua and Titus Pameko claimed there had been rampant illegitimate polling and counting practices in NCD during the elections period.
They also claimed the Electoral Commissioner, Andrew Trawen, had been “inconsistent” in his decisions regarding disputed ballot boxes in different parts of the country.
But questions posed to the commissioner, via his public relations office, went unanswered yesterday.
On Monday, Loko said it was mandatory under the Electoral Commission Act that an election advisory committee provided an advisory role to the commissioner but that had not been the case since the 2007 elections. 
“Without the committee, the electoral commissioner has been running the elections as a one-man-show,” Loko said.
Candidate Kua said too much power was invested in one man and the implications of his decisions would have adverse consequences for the country and the nation in the long term.
“Trawen keeps telling aggrieved candidates to run to the court of disputed returns but doesn’t he realise the eventual cost to the country and the amount of time and energy that will be spent by the courts?” Kua said.  
Transparency International PNG chairman Lawrence Stevens told The National yesterday the organisation had a member on the Electoral Advisory Committee but it had not been active.
However, Stevens, who sat on the advisory committee in 2002 as a church representative, said it only had an advisory role and could only hope to influence decisions.
“The electoral commissioner has substantial powers to make independent decisions,” Stevens said.