Sinai waiting for OC’s consent on Lagaip seat

ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai says that his office is waiting to hear from Ombudsman Commission (OC) whether or not to declare the Lagaip Open seat failed.
“At the moment, we’re waiting for the clearance from the OC on the reports.
“We are waiting because it is something that has gone over time and I want to get the proper clearance before I make a decision,” he said.
“We’re still working on the reports from the returning officer and election manager and proceeding with that through the OC so I’ll make the announcements based on whatever the outcome is.”
Sinai claimed that even though he was asked to make a decision, he referred the decision to the appropriate authority because of the time sensitivity, so that EC and OC could work together to provide a result that was fair for everyone.
“Based on what the OC decides, we might go into counting or we go back into a by-election,” he said.
Speaking about the by-elections for Wewak Open and North Bougainville Open, he said although those were events not budgeted for, they had factored it in the budget for 2023 and they were looking at conducting them as early as possible next year.
Sinai had put in a budget proposal request with the National Executive Government at the end of last month, of no more than K5 million to hold the by-elections for the Wewak Open, North Bougainville Open and the Lagaip Open seat, if needed.