PNGBLOGS

It is a shame that the Prime Minister Peter O’Neil is crying foul when all along he was collaborating with the PNG Electoral Commissioner, Mr.  Andrew Trawen and the so-called Australian expert advisors advising through Australian High Commissioner, Mr. Ian Kemish for opposing the deferral of the 2012 elections. Cries have been received from all parts of PNG echoing and demonstrating that our country was and is not ready to proceed with elections this last week. What a disaster. We have more than two hundred (200) plus Australian advisors working for the PNG Electoral Commission who have assisted orchestrate this disaster. What a shame??? I speak with the weight of facts. In my own Vanimo town urban wards, the electoral rolls there were in shambles. More than 5,000 to 6,000 eligible voters’ names were not on the electoral rolls. This is an urban/town ward. You can expect worse going into the rural districts in the electorates. The Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elec

It is a shame that the Prime Minister Peter O’Neil is crying foul when all along he was collaborating with the PNG Electoral Commissioner, Mr.  Andrew Trawen and the so-called Australian expert advisors advising through Australian High Commissioner, Mr. Ian Kemish for opposing the deferral of the 2012 elections. Cries have been received from all parts of PNG echoing and demonstrating that our country was and is not ready to proceed with elections this last week. What a disaster. We have more than two hundred (200) plus Australian advisors working for the PNG Electoral Commission who have assisted orchestrate this disaster. What a shame??? I speak with the weight of facts. In my own Vanimo town urban wards, the electoral rolls there were in shambles. More than 5,000 to 6,000 eligible voters’ names were not on the electoral rolls. This is an urban/town ward. You can expect worse going into the rural districts in the electorates. The Organic Law on National and Local Level Government

There have been rowdy scenes in a Papua New Guinean town after people thought ballot boxes for the general election were being taken away. The completed ballot papers for the highland province of Hela are being stored in shipping containers in the provincial capital Tari. Locals say a rumour spread around town early this morning that they were going to be moved to Mt Hagen 150 kilometres away and counted there. Tari resident Eddie Yuwi says some angry candidates and their supporters responded by firing guns into the air and blocking roads with logs and heavy machinery. "All the machines were lined up on the road to block off the boxes if any security personnel were about to carry the boxes to Mt Hagen." Mr Yuwi says the situation has since calmed and the roads have been reopened. PNG police arrest ballot 'hijackers Police in Papua New Guinea say they have arrested a gang posing as policemen to hijack ballot boxes during the country's general election. Police say four

There have been rowdy scenes in a Papua New Guinean town after people thought ballot boxes for the general election were being taken away. The completed ballot papers for the highland province of Hela are being stored in shipping containers in the provincial capital Tari. Locals say a rumour spread around town early this morning that they were going to be moved to Mt Hagen 150 kilometres away and counted there. Tari resident Eddie Yuwi says some angry candidates and their supporters responded by firing guns into the air and blocking roads with logs and heavy machinery. "All the machines were lined up on the road to block off the boxes if any security personnel were about to carry the boxes to Mt Hagen." Mr Yuwi says the situation has since calmed and the roads have been reopened. PNG police arrest ballot 'hijackers Police in Papua New Guinea say they have arrested a gang posing as policemen to hijack ballot boxes during the country's general election. Police say four

On the Kokoda Track, about the point where General Tomitaro Horii's invasion force was halted in September 1942 in sight of the Coral Sea, a mobile phone will now pick up the signal from the Port Moresby network. As Papua New Guinea starts voting today in its national elections, after much worry about whether they would be held within the constitutional timeframe or even run in a meaningful way, many political players and analysts are watching to see how the mobile phone is changing the game. The last elections took place in 2007, the same year the government deregulated telecommunications and removed the monopoly of the state telecom agency. Two mobile phone companies, Digicel and BeMobile, jumped into the market, and their networks have since expanded to cover 75 per cent of the nearly 7 million population. Advertisement: Story continues below One study a year ago put mobile phone penetration at 48 per cent of the population. Sarah Logan, at the Australian National University, ci

On the Kokoda Track, about the point where General Tomitaro Horii's invasion force was halted in September 1942 in sight of the Coral Sea, a mobile phone will now pick up the signal from the Port Moresby network. As Papua New Guinea starts voting today in its national elections, after much worry about whether they would be held within the constitutional timeframe or even run in a meaningful way, many political players and analysts are watching to see how the mobile phone is changing the game. The last elections took place in 2007, the same year the government deregulated telecommunications and removed the monopoly of the state telecom agency. Two mobile phone companies, Digicel and BeMobile, jumped into the market, and their networks have since expanded to cover 75 per cent of the nearly 7 million population. Advertisement: Story continues below One study a year ago put mobile phone penetration at 48 per cent of the population. Sarah Logan, at the Australian National University,

By HENRY LUBANG MONEY has always been a part of politics – but it should not be a determining factor in the outcome of elections. Hence, in campaign financing, it is a critical or an important precept of elections that must not be taken lightly, especially in Papua New Guinea. In this article, we look at the disparity between incumbent members of parliament and non-incumbent candidates, in essence affects the campaigning process. Among a number of plausible reasons, the incumbent MPs have the advantage of already having access to government development funds at their disposal. This then places them ahead of the competitors when it comes to voter appeal and thus putting non-incumbents in a less desirable position. By the nature of a democracy like ours, incumbent MPs are given access to resources and they are well placed to capitalise on the decision-making processes of the government machinery compared to challengers. If MPs are able to use their political influence to remain in power