Successful polls a credit to PNG

PAPUA New Guinea has once again confounded the world with the developments of the last few days.
The ongoing elections have lived up to the hype and delivered many surprises.
The election of Delilah Gore and Loujaya Toni is delightful news indeed. And while these two women have done so without the reservation of seats for women, the role played by the focus on the Women’s Reservation Bill must not be underestimated.
Now that the glass ceiling has been cracked, one hopes that this trickle turns into a flood in future elections. It would not be an unrealistic goal for women to aspire to win at least 10 seats in the 2017 elections.From all accounts, election-related violence has been at a minimum. Although every life lost is one life too many, Papua New Guineans can be proud that the elections have mostly been free of the carnage that many had predicted before the elections.
The common roll fiasco now seems to be a thing of the past, with the focus on counting and formation of the new government. But it would be a mistake to forget the issues that plagued the early part of the election process.
While many have laid the blame squarely at the feet of the Election Commission and Commissioner Andrew Trawen, the entire electorate needs to re-examine its own attitudes and failings when it came to the common roll updates.
When certain candidates, their supporters and voters are prepared to go to any lengths to subvert the process by entering ghost names and enroll children as voters, no authority under the sun can entirely prevent the resulting fraud, multiple voting, ghost voting etc that have occurred.
If anything, the PNGEC needs to be congratulated for surmounting impossible odds and delivering a reasonably successful election.
It is entirely wishful thinking to expect the PNG EC to conduct a free and fair election with the challenges it faces in terms of logistics, manpower, terrain and weather, and the limited resources at its disposal.The assistance of the Australian and New Zealand defence forces and election experts, as well as the role played by the Commonwealth observers, also cannot be underestimated. One can only imagine how much worse the election process would have been without the help from Australia and New Zealand.With the negotiations to form the new government now in an advanced stage, and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill seeming to be the front-runner to retain his post, the gamble to hold the election despite the urgings of many MPs and critics seems to have paid off.
The election was always going to be the most appropriate way to resolve the impasse of the past year. And the events of the last few days have vindicated the position of those who advocated for the elections to be held on time.
Before the elections, who would have thought that Sir Michael Somare and Mr O’Neill would be shaking hands and announcing they were reconciling to form a coalition government?
But that’s Melanesian politics for you, PNG-style!
PNG could have been saved a lot of heartache and confusion if this reconciliation had occurred say six months ago.But that is all now so much water under the bridge.
Sir Michael’s decision to support Mr O’Neill in his bid to form the government gives credence to the old adage that ‘’if you can’t beat them, join them’’.
Yesterday, Sir Michael again shocked the country and the region with the announcement that he was stepping down from national politics to return to serve his people of East Sepik.
The Grand Chief has correctly gauged the mood of the voters, and read the writing on the wall. It was time for change, to hand over to a new generation of leaders.
The defeat of his son Arthur in the Angoram electorate would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
But Sir Michael is a realist. He has nothing left to prove. His thumping win in his own seat proves he remains as popular as ever among his people.
In plain and clear terms yesterday, he admitted defeat in his bid to form the new government.
As the results continued to roll in, Sir Michael said:’’This (People’s National Congress’s decisive lead] leaves me with little choice but to accept defeat as the leader of the National Alliance.’’
The timing of Sir Michael’s exit from the national scene could not be better. He has chosen the time of his departure. He perhaps realises that serving in a government led by the man he has so bitterly fought for the last year would not be prudent. It would do nothing for his image or his health or his peace of mind.After 44 years in the topsy-turvy world of PNG politics, he deserves his rest.
Not that he intends to retire of course. He has stated his desire to continue serving his people at the provincial level.Another highlight of this election was Arthur Somare’s grace in defeat, when he admitted that he had let his people down and his declaration that the elections were free and fair.
The younger Mr Somare has shown statesman-like wisdom and humility, and the new government could do a lot worse than put his talents to good use.
And if all the unsuccessful candidates in these elections adopt a similar attitude as Mr Somare’s, there would be far fewer election petitions and instead of spending endless months in courts of disputed returns, those elected could get on with the business of providing services to their electorates.
lSanjay Bhosale, a former associate editor of The National, is a Canberra journalist.