PNG backflips on stalling national elections

From ABC

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has called for early elections, just days after parliament voted to delay the June polls by up to six months.

Peter O'Neill has assured PNG its elections will not be delayed. [ABC]

PHOTO

In a statement released today (Saturday), Mr O'Neill said parliament was not fully briefed on election preparations and did not have his authorisation.

 "The Electoral Commissioner's brief to me dated April 2 did not recommend deferral of elections. All effort must be made to assure security and integrity of the elections," he said.

 PNG's parliament voted 63-11 on Thursday to defer the mid-year elections for six months after hearing a report that preparations were inadequate.

 Cabinet is expected to meet on Monday to review election preparations ahead of Tuesday's sitting of parliament, where the decision to defer elections is likely to be reversed.

 On Friday, Papua New Guinea warned other countries, particularly Australia, not to interfere in its internal affairs.

 Perhaps in anticipation of an international backlash, deputy prime minister Belden Namah warned other countries not to interfere.

 He singled out Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr who floated, then later retracted, the idea of imposing sanctions on Papua New Guinea if elections were delayed.

 "Whatever Mr Bob Carr says about sanctions, I want to say this: do not threaten the independence of this country," Mr Namah said.

 Mr Carr says Australia is disappointed about the election delay, but is not considering sanctions at the moment.

 He says Australia and New Zealand have already agreed to provide substantial support for the poll.

 "In my view it would not be productive to be talking about sanctions at this time," he said.

 "Questions are being raised in Papua New Guinea about the constitutionality of this decision, those questions will need to be resolved by the country itself.

 "We respect Papau New Guinea's sovereignty and we'd like to see this decision reviewed."

 In a statement, Prime Minister Julia Gillard made no mention of sanctions but maintained Australia believed the elections should be held on time.

 "While we respect Papua New Guinea's sovereignty, as a strong supporter and long-time friend of Papua New Guinea, Australia believes the elections should be held on time, in accordance with the constitution," she said.

 "Papua New Guinea's democracy has to date had a good record of holding elections on time."

Prime Minister says no cabinet clearance for deferral of elections

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says Minister assisting the Prime Minister Wake Goiye had not received clearance from the National Executive Council to make a statement in parliament for the deferral of elections.

O’Neill has called for a special Cabinet meeting on Monday to review the report of the Electoral Commission and the chief electoral commissioner has been summoned to attend that meeting.

 O'Neill met with the Speaker Jeffrey Nape and Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah on Good Friday to discuss these concerns.

He said he understood why Parliament had moved to defer the elections by six months after MPs became dissatisfied with how unprepared the Electoral Commission was to conduct the elections in three weeks time.

O'Neill believes Parliament has not been fully briefed on the status of the preparations of the elections by the Chief Electoral Commissioner.

"The Electoral Commissioner's brief to me dated April 2 did not recommend deferral of elections,” he said.

“All effort must be made to assure security and integrity of the elections.”

There was outcry from Highlands MP's at government caucus meeting on Wednesday morning when it was learnt that voter rolls for all the 41 Highlands electorates had still to be processed.

These preliminary rolls were promised to be ready by the Electoral Commission for quality check by the end of March but it had failed to do so.

Many MPs from other electorates in Momase, New Guinea Islands and Southern Region expressed similar dissatisfaction with their respective electoral common rolls.

O'Neill said Monday's NEC meeting would review the election preparedness with a view to reporting to Parliament when it resumes on Tuesday.

Too soon for sanctions against PNG: Carr

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

 

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says he is disappointed to see Papua New Guinea delay national elections for six months but says it would be premature for Australia to impose sanctions.

PNG's parliament voted 63 to 11 on Thursday to controversially postpone its constitutionally mandated five yearly elections.

Senator Carr, who in March suggested the option of sanctions in the event elections were delayed before recanting, says imposing sanctions now would be premature.

"To see elections suspended by six months is very disappointing," he told reporters outside his home in Sydney.

"We hope the decision will be reviewed and it's premature to talk about sanctions.

"I think we've got to give the processes in Papua New Guinea some time to work their way through."

Mr Carr said he hoped to talk with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and his ministers about the decision and that holding PNG elections would be an object of Australian aid.

The Australian government has offered assistance to PNG in the form of 30 Australian workers to run elections and maintain the electoral rolls, as well as more than 100 computers.

PNG's Deputy Prime Minister, Belden Namah, criticised Senator Carr's previous backing of sanctions on the floor of parliament on Thursday.

But Senator Carr said Australia respected PNG's independence.

"We respect their sovereignty, but we've got a commitment to seeing the countries in this region stick by a democratic formula, the old formula that says that people determine their rulers and they do it on a regular basis," he said.

Deputy opposition leader and foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop on Friday told reporters in Port Moresby she hopes Australia will maintain its support role in ensuring PNG has a timely election.

She had just finished a week-long trip to the Pacific nation.

"Let's take it a step at a time," she said when asked if she would support sanctions against PNG if the election delay went beyond six months.

"At this point, there has been a vote in the parliament and then I'm sure there will be other matters unfolding in the weeks ahead."

The government of PNG has publicly toyed with the prospect of delaying the poll since early February, when it was revealed only 60 per cent of the electoral roll was complete.

Mr Namah also said security issues in the sometimes volatile Southern Highlands need to be addressed before the poll goes ahead.

The vote to delay the poll is a backflip for both Mr Namah and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who have both stated publicly the election will go ahead on time.

On Monday, Ms Bishop met with PNG's Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen, as well as Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga and defence force chief Brigadier-General Francis Agwi.

All three had indicated the nation was ready for an election.

The decision to delay has been strongly opposed by some parliamentarians who say the vote was unconstitutional.

PNG's former attorney-general Sir Arnold Amet has vowed a constitutional court challenge, while Opposition Leader Dame Carol Kidu on Thursday condemned the move.

Elections in the infrastructure-poor PNG are a multi-staged process.

The writs were due to be issued on April 27, with official campaigning due to kick off a week later.

Polling day was scheduled to be on June 23 and results would not be known for almost a month afterwards.

The six-month delay in the electoral process would put polling day on December 23, 2012.

Too soon for sanctions against PNG: Carr

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says he is disappointed to see Papua New Guinea delay national elections for six months but says it would be premature for Australia to impose sanctions.

PNG's parliament voted 63 to 11 on Thursday to controversially postpone its constitutionally mandated five yearly elections.

Senator Carr, who in March suggested the option of sanctions in the event elections were delayed before recanting, says imposing sanctions now would be premature.

"To see elections suspended by six months is very disappointing," he told reporters outside his home in Sydney.

"We hope the decision will be reviewed and it's premature to talk about sanctions.

"I think we've got to give the processes in Papua New Guinea some time to work their way through."

Mr Carr said he hoped to talk with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and his ministers about the decision and that holding PNG elections would be an object of Australian aid.

The Australian government has offered assistance to PNG in the form of 30 Australian workers to run elections and maintain the electoral rolls, as well as more than 100 computers.

PNG's Deputy Prime Minister, Belden Namah, criticised Senator Carr's previous backing of sanctions on the floor of parliament on Thursday.

But Senator Carr said Australia respected PNG's independence.

"We respect their sovereignty, but we've got a commitment to seeing the countries in this region stick by a democratic formula, the old formula that says that people determine their rulers and they do it on a regular basis," he said.

Deputy opposition leader and foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop on Friday told reporters in Port Moresby she hopes Australia will maintain its support role in ensuring PNG has a timely election.

She had just finished a week-long trip to the Pacific nation.

"Let's take it a step at a time," she said when asked if she would support sanctions against PNG if the election delay went beyond six months.

"At this point, there has been a vote in the parliament and then I'm sure there will be other matters unfolding in the weeks ahead."

The government of PNG has publicly toyed with the prospect of delaying the poll since early February, when it was revealed only 60 per cent of the electoral roll was complete.

Mr Namah also said security issues in the sometimes volatile Southern Highlands need to be addressed before the poll goes ahead.

The vote to delay the poll is a backflip for both Mr Namah and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who have both stated publicly the election will go ahead on time.

On Monday, Ms Bishop met with PNG's Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen, as well as Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga and defence force chief Brigadier-General Francis Agwi.

All three had indicated the nation was ready for an election.

The decision to delay has been strongly opposed by some parliamentarians who say the vote was unconstitutional.

PNG's former attorney-general Sir Arnold Amet has vowed a constitutional court challenge, while Opposition Leader Dame Carol Kidu on Thursday condemned the move.

Elections in the infrastructure-poor PNG are a multi-staged process.

The writs were due to be issued on April 27, with official campaigning due to kick off a week later.

Polling day was scheduled to be on June 23 and results would not be known for almost a month afterwards.

The six-month delay in the electoral process would put polling day on December 23, 2012.

PNG poll delay worries Australia

SYDNEY: Australia has criticised Papua New Guinea's decision to delay national elections as disappointing and concerning, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard urging Port Moresby to reconsider.

 Papua New Guinea's parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to postpone the polls for six months, with Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah reportedly warning Canberra should not intrude on the election process.

 Gillard said the Australian government, which has previously cautioned against delaying the elections which were due to be held in June, was "disappointed and concerned".

Australia has criticised Papua New Guinea's decision to delay national elections as disappointing and concerning (AFP/File - Torsten Blackwood)

"Questions have been raised in Papua New Guinea about the constitutionality of this decision," she said in a statement issued late Thursday.

 "While we respect Papua New Guinea's sovereignty, as a strong supporter and long-time friend of Papua New Guinea, Australia believes that the elections should be held on time, in accordance with the constitution."

 Gillard said Canberra had received previous assurances from PNG's government that the elections would be held on time and hoped it would now "give this decision further consideration."

 Politics in PNG have been in turmoil since late 2011 when the Supreme Court ruled Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's rise to power -- via a parliamentary vote while then leader Sir Michael Somare was recovering from illness in Singapore -- was illegal.

 Somare, who has dominated politics in his country for decades, believes he is still the leader of the Pacific nation of 6.6 million people, and fresh elections were viewed as a way of resolving the dispute for good.

 PNG's parliament decided on Thursday that elections will be suspended for six months from April 27.

 Namah reportedly said that the polls needed to be delayed to ensure proper security in the volatile Southern Highlands and because electoral rolls were incomplete.

 But Gillard said Canberra had provided "substantial practical support to enable elections to proceed as scheduled", including 30 Australian Civilian Corps personnel to PNG's electoral commission and an air support mission.

 Australia rankled its northern neighbour in March when Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Canberra would "be in the position of having to consider sanctions" if PNG failed to hold elections in mid-2012.

 "We'd have no alternative but to organise the world to condemn and isolate Papua New Guinea," Carr told Sky News at the time.

 In a speech to parliament Thursday, Namah warned Australia not to threaten PNG.

 "Whatever Mr Bob Carr says about sanctions, I want to say this: do not threaten the independence of this country," Namah said, the ABC reported.