Govt Will Not Defer Llg Polls Again: Marape
Papua New Guinea's authorities has been taken to job in parliament most preparedness for next year'south general elections.
Polling booth PNG ballot 2017 Photo: RNZI/ Johnny Blades
PNG elections merely come up around every five years, and are eagerly predictable. Only the last few installments have been chaotic and plagued by flaws in the mutual roll, every bit well as voter fraud and election-related violence.
Business organisation that both the balloter committee and authorities are unprepared for 2022 is compounded by the fact that parliament is contemplating some major changes to the balloter arrangement at a fourth dimension when even the basic requirements of running an election are yet to be addressed.
With less than a year before polling is scheduled to begin, prime minister James Marape revealed there is a private member'southward neb (introduced past government MP Nick Kuman) seeking to change PNG's electoral system from Limited Preferential Voting back to First Past the Mail.
"But as the police force says, we have the Limited Preferential Voting system that we volition go past," Marape said in parliament.
"Personally for me, I prefer LPV, it is off-white and friendly for all. But once more, this parliament is totally at liberty to discuss this private member's pecker."
The opposition MP Davis Steven took exception to the haphazard way in which such a major proposed modify has come before parliament.
"It should never happen that a private member's bill be brought to bargain with the constitution, because it's the responsibility of the prime number minister of the day to look later the constitution," Steven said.
The thought of reverting back to First Past the Post has also been mooted past PNG's previous prime minister Peter O'Neill. Only information technology is not universally popular among members and may struggle to become the 2-thirds support amongst MPs.
James Marape has indicated it's probable that the Express Preferential Voting system will exist retained for the 2022 elections. Photo: PNG PM Media
Fourth dimension running out
David Steven warned against major constitutional modify at this belatedly stage in the parliamentary wheel.
"Do we have the fourth dimension? Given the process prescribed for the amendment of ramble police, do we have the time to do it? Nosotros're coming back from two long adjournments when we should take been hither doing this business concern. Secondly, do nosotros accept the funds?"
While limited testing has given a poor picture of how widespread Covid-19 is in PNG, the government has now opted to care for the virus equally something the population must learn to alive with, urging a business organization-every bit-usual approach - this includes forging ahead with elections.
Marape told parliament the 2022 elections would proceed on schedule, with the writs to be issued in Apr.
He too responded to questions about whether PNG'south problematic mutual ringlet would be updated. The curlicue used in contempo elections contained names of many dead people, and was missing many more eligible voters.
The prime minister noted budget submissions of over 300-million kina each for both the updating of the roll and the delayed national census, saying they would utilize the 2021 census to update the roll.
Election fourth dimension is time for festivities in PNG: onetime Prime number Minister Peter O'Neill on the entrada trail in 2017. Photo: PMO Media
"In the afterward half of this year, the Electoral Commissioner and his team from this population database will verify the (names of those) xviii years and higher up to be migrated into what volition become the common roll," Marape explained.
"That will take place in December, January, Feb, March, for the mutual gyre verification and updates."
Women's seats
Lawmakers have some other major constitutional change to consider for elections after a special parliamentary committee recently proposed for parliamentary seats to be reserved for women.
To address the trouble of having no women MPs in parliament, Marape said a couple of options were on the table.
"One is specialised reserved seats for women only. That might crave major legal amendments.
"We're likewise looking at the option of: if women they become and contest, and if no women are elected, (we adopt) something similar to the Samoan model. Then of those who contest, the best performed women in our four or five regions can be given a seat on the floor of parliament."
Samoa'due south constitution stipulates that 10 percent of MPs must be women, whether or non this number of women win seats in electorates.
"So those proposals are being run through," Marape explained, although opportunities to do it in the current parliament term'due south remaining sessions are express.
There are currently no women in MPs in Papua New Guinea's 111-seat parliament Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
Meanwhile, the Rigo MP, Lekwa Gure called for the Electoral Committee to lay downwardly the law in relation to candidates campaigning earlier they were allowed to.
"All of the states know, and in that location's lots of public commentary on the effect, there are many individuals and maybe some parties that are already out at that place doing early on campaigning under the guise of sensation," Gure said.
But the Electoral Commissioner, Patalias Gamato, already has a lot on his plate, besides trying to hold candidates to business relationship and trying to update the mutual curlicue.
Gamato is facing corruption charges stemming from fraud investigations involving the 2017 general elections.
Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/449119/png-considers-major-electoral-changes-before-2022-polls
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