Stop early campaigning

EARLY political campaigning in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea is gaining momentum.
The PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) must do something about this immediately.
Intending candidates are bribing people with pigs, money and beer.
Consequently, some people are following the intending candidates everywhere.
Can the relevant responsible authorities look into this illegal practice and do something about it?
The Electoral Commission happily received K400 million from the 2017 National Budget to prepare for a successful election next year.
However, it will be impossible to run a successful and corruption-free election.
A successful election, which is a major contributing factor to good governance, depends very much on the Electoral Commission’s awareness campaigns.
As it is, the bulk of our people live in the rural areas and the PNGEC’s awareness campaigns hardly reach them.
They take elections as coffee, karuka and maritha seasons.
They accepted bribes from intending candidates with open
arms.
Most people living in the rural settings are illiterate: they cannot read and understand what is disseminated by the media.
They cannot comprehend the content on the PNGEC’s information leaflets and banners distributed prior to the elections.
The extensive media campaigns pursued by the commission is a waste of public funds.
The PNGEC should engage and deploy personnel from the non-government organisations and churches to every part of the country to disseminate the information direct to the people.
This will enable the people to know their rights and participate meaningfully in the elections.
The commission must come up with a good budget for awareness campaigns and kick-start this programme as soon as possible.
The social media can also be utilised for this exercise as many people now have mobiles to access facebook and other sites.
The PNGEC should provide a hotline number that will enable the people to enquire for information and also report on intending candidates’ illegal activities.
As well, the commission and police should prosecute and even disqualify intending candidates doing crazy things to win the people’s hearts and minds.
Let’s contribute in an effective and efficient election process and pray for good governance.

Jonathan Dege,
Sinasina, Chimbu