Ward council election dates draw confusion

NOMINATIONS for the ward council elections opened on Thursday but many councillors and intending candidates as well as the people are not aware of the dates and how the elections will progress.
Yabem Mape vice-president and ward 19 councillor of Finschhafen Ismael Nozu said his people were still unaware of the elections because they have not receive information from the Electoral Commission and their respective local level government (LLG) offices.
“Our concern is when the Supreme Court issued a stay order and lifted it, there was no proper official circulation instruction from the districts to LLGs and down to the wards regarding new election dates,” they said.
“Many councillors and candidates are lost.
“They have been calling and texting me asking about the confirmed dates.”
They said their respective LLG offices needed to provide proper information.
They were also not happy with the Electoral Commission and the approach they had taken.
Morobe election manager Simon Soheke said they had made the election dates known through the media and most people were aware of that.
“We’ve put notices in the newspapers and I don’t see any reason why they are not aware,” he said.
Meanwhile, Soheke said the nomination for councillors in Lae opened on Friday at the Lae LLG chamber while for Ahi, nominations would be at their LLG chamber at Malahang.
Nominations for other centres would be at their respective LLG chambers.
Munji village ward 6 councillor of Sausso LLG in East Sepik, Adam Hambuk shared the same sentiments regarding uncertainty of the election dates and process.
In an interview with The National, Hambuk claimed they have not been updated on the voting process and what type of voting system would be used.