Sinai overrules claim

By REBECCA KUKU
ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai has over-ruled the decision to exclude 12 ballot boxes from the Lake Kopiago area despite claims that there was no polling done in the area.
In a letter dated July 15, Sinai said he received letters from two candidates, former Hela administrator William Bando, who disputed the 12 boxes, and incumbent Petrus Thomas, advocating for the boxes to be included.
Hela election manager John Tipa made a decision to disqualify the 12 ballot boxes last week as there was no polling in the area.
“I was there in person, including the election steering committee chairperson, and saw that there was no polling done,” he said
Tipa said that he had enough evidence and reports from electoral officers, security personnel and the people confirming that no polling was done.
However, in the letter from the Electoral Commission addressed to the Koroba-Lake Kopiago returning officer, Sinai said that election managers did not have the powers under the Organic Law or the Electrol Law to receive or make decisions of the admission of ballot boxes to scrutiny.
“There is no proper evidence that there was no polling in the Lake Kopiago area, therefore, my decision is that all these ballot boxes be admitted in for counting,” he said.
Meanwhile, candidate Kenwa Ikila, speaking on behalf of three other candidates Samson Peri, Jonathan Lepo and Alan Yalu, all from Lake Kopiago who were contesting for the Koroba-Lake Kopiago seat, also said that their people in the Lake Kopiago area did not vote. He said the matter will be settled in the court of disputed returns.

Counting for Nuku to start today,says official

By YVONNE KAMBIBEL
COUNTING for Nuku in West Sepik will start today, says returning officer Fernando Yala.
Yala said polling concluded on Thursday followed by preparations for counting at the Catholic Mission in Nuku station.
He said despite minor disturbances in Kolembi, Palai local level government (LLG) which included the stabbing of a youth and an accident involving the assistant returning officer (ARO), polling was conducted well.
“The assistant returning officer is at the Boram General Hospital in Wewak, recovering,” he said.
“However, the youth was murdered by a drunkard and his relative.”
Yala said earlier last week in Kolembi, in Palai’s ward seven area, a drunkard approached the polling area and started destroying things.
“The young man was among others who tried to remove the drunkard from the polling station but the drunkard’s relatives, who were there, supported him and murdered the young man,” he said.

Court dismisses RO’s application

By BEVERLY PETER
THE National Court has dismissed a second attempt by the former Hagen Open returning officer (RO) Willie Ropa to stop Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai’s decision to revoke his appointment and appoint Pais Nop.
Judge Joseph Yagi at Waigani on Friday said the application was an abuse of court process because Ropa used the same facts and grounds as his previous application in this proceeding.
“It is like taking a second bite at cherry which is wrong and it is proper for the court to exercise its inherent power to protect its process by dismissing this proceeding for being an abuse of process,” he said.
Yagi said the basic fact that Sinai had Ropa’s appointment revoked and replaced him with Nop in the position
on June 2 remained the same in this proceeding which Ropa had already challenged.
“Ropa relied on the same grounds to review Sinai’s decision which the Court had determined and made a decision on the merit of the leave application on July 4,” he said.
“The proper step for Ropa to take is to appeal that Court decision.”
The State’s notice of motion challenging the competency of Ropa’s application was dismissed by Yagi who said the legislation relied on was not applicable in the proceeding.
Although, the motion was dismissed, Yagi said the matters raised and argued by the State were correct and properly raised and argued during the hearing.
The matter went before the Court last Monday.
The State in their motion sought to dismiss the proceeding .
This was because no arguable case was raised in the application and it was an abuse of process.
The application was however filed on the grounds that Ropa said he was not given an opportunity to be heard in his defence before Sinai made the decision.