Samuel can contest: Sinai

MORESBY North-West MP Lohia Boe Samuel can contest in the general election because he has not been convicted, Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says.
Sinai made the clarification as Samuel is currently facing a murder charge in the Committal Court in Waigani.
Samuel and his co-accused Fabian Hera have been accused of killing a man in Port Moresby on March 11.
Sinai said Samuel had the right to contest the election when nominations open on Wednesday.
He said the same applied to any intending candidate unless they were proven guilty by the court.
“There is no law stopping a person who is arrested for crime and going through the criminal process to nominate and contest in the election,” he said
Sinai said nominations would close on May 26 and the Electoral Commission and police had put together a security action plan to target hotspot provinces.
He said those hotspots had been identified and security personnel were set to be deployed.
“We have identified a few hotspot areas and Mt Hagen is one them with Southern Highlands,” Sinai said.
“For other provinces that are most likely to be a hotspot, we’ve targeted that and they have security operations planned.
“The plan is now under discussion with the team working on it and we are moving into finalising it.”