The waiting is over

WOMEN wept as Loujaya Toni, the first female member-elect from the Morobe province returned to her home in Lae to collect a bag before being whisked off to Alotau in Milne Bay Province, in the traditional horse-trading that follows a national election in PNG, where in¬tense bidding takes place to muster the numbers to form the next government.
As Toni, from Butibam village returned on Sunday to her Busurum clan land where she resides, hundreds of people lined the road, braving wind and rain to cheer her home.
From count one Toni’s faithful voters kept her among the top six in a field of 30 male candidates for the Lae Open seat.
At the beginning of the campaign pe¬riod, Toni had said she did not believe in the 22 reserved seats for women in Parliament, saying women who want to get voted into Parliament should compete alongside other candidates who would mostly be men for a place in parliament.
This is her second attempt at the seat. Her win saw her ousting her grandfather, Bart Philemon, and proved that being female should not be a barrier if the people find favor in you as a candidate and make their mark for you on the ballot.
“There’s no blood on my hands, I am clean” she said after being declared member-elect by Lae Open Returning Officer, Daniel Wasinak at about 2pm on Saturday at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Indoor Stadium.
Bribery and corruption, she said, played no part in her candidature and win. She said she owed her win to the God of Israel.
Her most pressing priorities are to ensure Lae district fulfills the United Nations agenda on poverty alleviation by 2015 when she intends to person¬ally lead a team to present certification to the UN.
Toni is also looking at ensuring old people receive a pension and bio¬metric registration is in place so that everyone in Lae is registered on a database.
After sitting MP, Bart Philemon was eliminated his second votes boosted Toni’s figures to 7364, 1522 votes clear of Fred Wak’s 5842 and giving her a consolidating win.
Toni left the Sir Ignatius stadium following her declaration to be greeted by well-wishers, tooting of car horns with the main road from Butibam village to Arnotts factory and into Bu¬surum settlement awash with villagers and settlers waving and eager to meet and greet their new MP-elect.
Women at the settlement, too emo¬tional to speak, wept openly.
Many now feel that a woman leader will understand how the down-trodden feel and provide leadership to improve their lot.
Toni has undertaken to ensure electricity and water reaches into all settlements in Lae and unemployment is reduced.