Pilot: O’Neill’s men punched me

By MALUM NALU

A HELICOPTER pilot claims he was assaulted by political minders in Alotau where members of the caretaker Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s group are camped.
Pilot James Pima told The National he was assaulted by minders of the camp on Saturday when he landed Telikom technicians in Alotau.



Captain James Pima (second from left, with a black eye) with Telikom staff (from left) Pilol Iavia, Willie Monda and Julius Lepilis.-Picture by MALUM NALU

 A source at the Alotau camp confirmed that there was a confrontation but that there was no physical assault on the pilot.
“He happened to fly into a political camp on a Saturday with people who appeared to be ununiformed soldiers posing as Telikom technicians,” the source said.
“He was told to p*** off. He was trying to harass MPs who are there on their own volition for a retreat before the formation of government.”
Pima said, however, that his passengers were Telikom employees.
He said he was assaulted and was sporting a black eye and that he was forced to fly off in an overheated Heli Solutions helicopter.
That endangered the lives of his passengers, as well as travelling on an empty tank.
Pilots and civil aviation officials said on Saturday that threatening a pilot and endangering an aircraft was a very serious criminal offence.
Pima reported the matter to 6-Mile police after landing in Port Moresby on Saturday afternoon.
A shaken Pima and the three Telikom staff told reporters on Saturday in Port Moresby that the incident was totally uncalled for.
“This is the work of some low-life desperate political scumbag scavengers,” Pima said.
“Some are failed politicians who are leeches of politicians and maggots feeding off a weak and corrupt government and government systems.
“These spineless cowards wouldn’t compete and survive in a real world.”
Telikom staffer Pilol Iavia said they were in Alotau to restore microwave links.
“When we landed in Alotau, we were approached by a group of men who asked us what we were doing there.
“We explained that we were Telikom staff.
“They asked us to leave. The captain had a confrontation with the group of men.”
Pima said he had his shirt ripped off and was punched in the left eye

Former Aiyura principal congratulates Loujaya Toni

By DANIEL KUNERT
Former Principal
Aiyura National High School

Aloha!

The woman elected to represent the Lae Open seat is, as many of you already know, the Loujaya who was our student at Aiyura back in 1980-81: Loujaya Kousa at the time.

Daniel Kunert and wife Nancy

I know she has been very active in... various endeavors after she finished at UPNG, including, I believe, as a journalist, serving as editor of the Air Niugini in-flight magazine, writing and recording music, assisting in the production of some national celebrations, etc. She had had a book of her poetry published even before she started as a student at Aiyura.
I am wondering if this is going to start a trend......probably a very good trend....where, in situations where only one woman runs, it will be much easier for her to win the seat.....if they are still using the "first past the post" voting system (and still using the preferential version of that system). Let most of the men divide the male votes amongst them, and most of the female voters vote for the lone female candidate. (But it has been a long time since I served as an invigilator for a candidate for Parliament and I am not sure what has evolved in the past 25 years with regard to the voting system in PNG.) 
I have often felt that PNG will not be able to get on top of some of their very serious problems unless and until they have a much better representation of women at all levels of government, especially in Parliament. Congratulations to Loujaya!

Dan

Daniel J Kunert
1092 W Kawailani St
Hilo, HI 96720-3281

Michael Malabag storms home in Moresby North West

Unionist Micheal Malabag got home in a photo-finish against Miria Ikupu 9, 351 votes to 9, 334 in the Moresby North West Seat today.

Michael Malabag

 Malabag picked up 906 votes from woman candidate Janet Sape to storm home.
Declaration is expected to be done tomorrow.

Loujaya Toni keeps the Lae fire alive

By ARMSTRONG SAIYAMA

Divine Word University Journalism Student

LONE female candidate Loujaya Toni is the new member elect for the Lae Open seat.

Toni has polled 7,364 votes ahead of the businessman Fred Wak with 5,842 votes and sitting MP Bart Philemon trailing third with 4,680 votes.

The horse trading has already started and new Lae MP Elect Loujaya Toni is no exception, as this picture of her being courted by Peter O'Neill's People's National Congress this morning shows. PNC sent a plane to whisk her out of Nadab Airport this morning.-Picture by MICHAEL J EARLEY

Toni has won over the 50 +1 majority of 6,004 votes in this male-dominated race.

Former journalist, teacher, poet cum gospel singer Loujaya Toni is running under the ticket of Indigenous People’s Party.

The Masters Degree in Communication Development Studies graduate from the PNG University of Technology said she could use her knowledge and experiences to bring holistic development in her Lae electorate. 

Toni told The National in an exclusive interview earlier in this year with her at her residence at the Busurum Compound. 

“I understand human beings and basics of not only to look after people within Lae electorate, I also understand how we can develop together our human resources and how to communicate development,” she said.

“I’m confident with the level of qualifications that I have and that confidence that I am delivering to the voters.

“I’m pressing people to take ownership of my policies and seeing them as theirs."

Toni has challenged 30 male candidates including the veteran Minister of Public Service Bart Philemon.

The Butibam villager said she has ousted her grandfather Philemon to show a new type of leadership in the Lae Open seat.

 “I am working with all the candidates in the Lae Open seat, I see all of them as my brothers and except Bart Philemon who is my grandfather,” Toni said.

“I’m banking on the fact that I see all candidates as brothers and Philemon as grandfather, I’m very confident that I’m in every body’s three leaf combination."

Her winning is the manifestation of her creative drive to tap into second and third choices of this male dominated race.

Toni has been running under the banner of “Make a difference: Vote for a woman".

“I never support the reserve seats and I’m excited in the prospects of running this election," she said.

“Male candidates can’t handle women’s issues, men deal with big issues and women’s issues are not on men’s agenda.

“A woman is qualified in home economics and in human resource development.

“Naturally, women are interested in talking of human resource development and want our children to have good education, good health and good life.

“We, the women are practicing real home economics and human resource development in the home governments, and we women are expanding our areas of governance into the next level,” she said.

Toni says that her policies are to touch the people and changed the people’s lives.

“I would empower and up skill the customary Ahi land owners, squatter settlers, women, old people, orphans, youth, people living with HIV/AIDS and people living with disability,” she said.

“ I have  plans to organise pensions for old people, create sheltered workShops for people living with disability, Improve alternative healthcare and homecare for people living with HIV/AIDS, employment and training programmes for youth, programmes for orphans, develop cottage industry for women, downstream processing of local products and establish a council of chiefs for the  Ahi people,” Toni said.

She said her push is for PNG to meet the 2015 United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.

“I will provide a report card of my electorate to the United Nations in 2015," Toni said,

 “That involves providing a report card to make myself accountable to the Lae voters and transparent to the international community.

“I have 100 days in office plan and a  five-year development plan for Lae Open electorate."

This is her second time to contest the Lae Open seat to win this seat.

Toni came fifth out of the 25 candidates in the 2007 national election and she came third in the 2008 Ahi local level government presidential race.

Loujaya Toni unseats Bart Philemon in Lae

By MATHEW KEPAS

NBC, Lae

Woman leader LoujayaToni is the new Lae MP, unseating Bart Philemon, who has been in the seat since 1992.

Toni celebrates her win yesterday.-Picture by JOANNE PENNINAH KARO

Toni yesterday polled 7,364 votes ahead of her closest rival , businessman Fred Wak, 5,842 to win.  She is the second woman candidate to be declared over the weekend, after Delilah Gore unseated  Anthony Nene, for Sohe Open Seat in Oro (Northern) province on Saturday. 

 Toni has pledged to the people of Lae that in her term as their member for the next five years, her biggest aim would be to fulfil the United Nations agenda of poverty alleviation.

She says she will honour God and join the Government of the day and work towards providing a report card to the UN General Assembly by 2015, to say that Lae District is serious in dealing with poverty alleviation.

And in order to achieve that the member elect says Lae district must first of all develop a biometric data base to keep an accurate account of its population firgures including other important statistics to match development trends.

Toni revealed these in her victory speech after her declaration at 2.30 yesterday afternoon at the Sir Ignatius Sporting complex in Lae.

She polled 7, 364 votes going past the absolute majority vote of 6,000-plus to beat the runner-up Fred Wak who scored 5842 votes.

The 29th and final exclusion in the race was that of sitting member and New Generation party leader Bart Philemon. 

 Philemon had been the member for Lae for the last 20 years and it took a relative and a woman to unseat him in this general elections under the Preferential Voting System.

Lae MP Bart Philemon fighting for survival

By MATHEW KEPAS
NBC Lae

The Leader of the New Generation Party and sitting member for Lae Open Bart Philemon is fighting for his political survival as counting slowly winds down in the Lae Open seat.

Philemon...fighting for survival

This follows the 27th elimination late this afternoon and the consequent suspension of counting until tomorrow morning at the Sir Ignatius Kilage stadium in Lae.
After the 27th exclusion Mr Philemon is running third with 4297 votes.
Lae businessman Fred Wak has skipped away with 5151 votes while, in second spot is woman candidate Loujoya Toni is on 4801 votes.
Constitutional Democratic Party candidate Micah Parimani Vines is fourth and the tail end of the field with 4234 votes.
Parimani will be the 28th exclusion when counting resumes tomorrow morning.

First woman elected in PNG elections

Delilah Gore has just beaten her former boss and, Anthony Nene, for Sohe Open Seat in Oro (Northern) province.
Gore has just been declared winner as a member of Don Polye's Triumph Heritage Empowerment (THE) Party.
Since the start of the polls she has maintained a very good lead over all challengers for the Sohe Open Seat.
"When I left office I went to all four districts," she told NBC Radio.
"I went out empowering women and youths.
"I told women to vote for women, and that's what they did."
She said her focus would be on rural development.
"We have lacked government services for a long time," Gore said.