PNG Party News

New Women's Representative joins IPPCC Board

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 08:35:00 +0000

By Claudio Labeli
On Tuesday 29th July 2025, the Registry in a small but significant ceremony welcomed the new Women’s representative to its Board of the Integrity of Political Parties Candidate Commission. Present at this event was the Chairman, Reverend Roger Joseph, Registrar Emmanuel Pok, senior managers and staff. Section 4 of the Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) highlights the membership composition of the Board. They are; the Clerk of Parliament, Electoral Commissioner, Chairman/CEO of National Economic Fiscal Commission (NEFC), Representative of the National Council of Women and the representative of the National Council of Churches. The women’s representative on the board was left vacant for a couple of years after the exit of Ms Theresa Jaintong

In the swearing in ceremony of Ms Sabeth Yengis, chairman Joseph emphasize the important role women play in the society and also stressed the need for more women to participant in the political landscape of this country. He admitted that Ms Yengis brings the gender balance onto the current board. The Registrar in his welcoming remarks outlined the important role that Ms Yengis brings to the board as the women’s representative and the responsibilities that is mandated by the OLIPPAC in this institution.

Ms Yengis was the former President of the Council of Women of Enga having served in that position for 15 years before being elevated to the current role as the President of the National Council of Women for Papua New Guinea. On hand to formalize the swearing in ceremony was the Registry’s legal council Ms Lyean Nants.

Registry of Political Parties, a partner stakeholder in the WMC Phase 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 21:32:00 +0000

By Patrick Kaiku
On Tuesday the 22nd of July, 2025, the Registry of Political Parties (Registry) was invited to Kina Haus, Downtown, Port Moresby, for an inception meeting formally recommencing the second phase of the Women Make Change (WMC) program. The second phase will be within the 2025-2028 period. The second phase is a follow on from the successes of the inaugural phase (2020-2025). The inception event was organized by the UN Women and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

WMC is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The WMC is an informal mechanism for both non-governmental organizations and government agencies. The UN Women and UNDP play the coordinating role. Through the WMC, stakeholders align their work programs aimed at empowering women to take up leadership roles and play important responsibilities in the decision-making arenas of the country.

Stakeholders in the WMC include; UN Women, UNDP, Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission, Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs, Department for Community Affairs and Religion, PNG Women in Leadership Program, Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, Improving Political Inclusion and Participation Program, National Council of Women and International Foundation for Electoral Systems. of the empowerment of women into political arena and decision-making positions.

Representing the Registry, Registrar of Political Parties, Mr. Emmanuel Pok reported on some of the key milestones in the Registry’s efforts to mainstream women participation in political party institutions in the country. Some of the initiatives include the amendments to provisions in the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (Integrity Law), requiring political parties to endorse female candidates. These amendments are afoot in the form of the revised Integrity Law, presently with the Office of the Solicitor General, before Cabinet endorsement for reading in Parliament.

As a key stakeholder in the Women Make Change Phase 2, the Registrar made reference to the Registry of Political Party’s Corporate Plan 2023 to 2027, and the work plans of the Registry to engage in the women leadership development programs leading up to the 2027 National General Elections in PNG.

Registry of Political Parties observation team interview at NBC studios in the New Ireland province

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 05:48:00 +0000

Pic:The Team from the Office of Registry of Political Parties at the National Broadcasting Corporation New Ireland studio.

On the Tuesday the 17th of July 2025, Local-level Government Election Observation Team New Ireland from the Registry of Political Parties dropped by at the National Broadcasting Corporation New Ireland for a live interview. The Registry of Political Parties is the only governmental institution presently conducting election observations in this year’s LLG elections.

The Registry have a team on the ground, to observe and document the administration, and conduct of the 2025 LLG elections, with the stated aim of understanding the role of political parties in the communities. The team, led by Director for Policy, Legal and research, Patrick Kaiku says, they are holding discussions with political parties, candidates, and key stakeholders across two districts of Namatanai and Kavieng, to assess the environment in which the elections are being held.

He said: “election observations are very important because yumi bai kisim experience na lessons blong elections ba em bai informim how bai yumi prepare for the next election ah!” He said we’ve been having elections since 1964 and 50 years later, we are still having issues. “So mipla kam long Niu Ailan yah, em blong traim blong understandim whether ol political parties or whether environment i allowim pipol long expressim democratic rights blong ol, igo gut or align wantem tingting blong gavman long conductim free na safe elections,” he said.

The Registry has teams doing LLG elections observation nationally. Provinces covered in this year’s LLG elections include the Central Province, Morobe, Madang, East Sepik, Sandaun, Western Highlands, Enga, Southern Highlands, Jiwaka, Eastern Highlands, Northern (Oro), West New Britain, and New Ireland Provinces.

It is imperative that elections – both national and local-level government elections are observed because the documentation of election processes is the basis to inform policy and legislative reforms for future elections. The findings and recommendations from elections observations will help the Registry of Political Parties to present strong recommendations to decision-makers, with the aim of strengthening future electoral processes, especially at the subnational level.

source:NBC New Ireland/P.Kaiku

Pangu Pati Inc. Training and Induction Workshops

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 May 2024 23:32:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana
The Registry of Political Parties is the mandated body that protects the elections from outside and hidden influences and also deals with political institutions (Political Parties) in strengthening them because they are the major key payers in our democratic system of government. The Registry was pleased and grateful to be part of the Training and Induction Workshop conducted by the Pangu Pati Inc (PPI) in the four (4) regions of the country from November to December 2023. The first leg of the induction workshop was held in Port Moresby for the Southern Region executives from the 4th to the 5th of November 2023, the second was conducted in Kokopo, East New Britain Province for the New Guinea Islands Region executives from 13th to the 14th November 2023, the third leg of the workshop was conducted in Kundiawa, Chimbu Province from the 29th to 30th November 2023. The training and induction workshop was concluded on 2nd of December, 2023, in Lae, Morobe Province for the Momase region executives.
The PPI training and induction program was an initiative to assist the Pangu Pati Inc. Provincial Executives of its 22 branches in the country. This initiative is a pilot program that will be conducted for a duration of five years until 2027. The training and induction workshop was formulated by Pangu Pati Inc. in partnership with the Registry of political parties to deliver during the four (4) regional workshops in the country.
The focus of the PPI Training and Induction workshop is in consistent with what the Registry is embarking on, and that is to promote and strengthen political parties in our young democracy. The main purpose of the Training and Induction workshop was to build and develop the capacity of Pangu Pati Inc. Provincial Executives to better manage the party in their respective provincial branches, and at the same time to prepare them for the next National General Elections in 2027.
It has been for far too long that political parties only exist during election time and are extremely weak. This needs a total transformation. The Registry is now encouraging and calling all registered political parties to come out of the comfort zones and take similar approaches to build and grow their parties, so that we can have strong and viable democratic party system in our country.

Registry Takes Part in Reform Initiatives

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 May 2024 23:22:00 +0000

By William Garena
The Registry of Political Parties took part in a nation-wide consultation to review the form and system of government together with key government agencies. The Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC) was tasked to take lead in the review process. The review began with its launching at Holiday Inn, Port Moresby on 16th February 2023 by the Prime Minister Honourable James Marape.
The focus of the review is based on four key areas: system of government; current structure of the National Parliament; election of Prime Minister; and the different levels of government. The purpose of the review is critical as it takes stock of how far we’ve come as a nation since independence in 1975. The review will inform us if the current systems are workable or it requires change to suit our development aspirations.
An External Secretariat was formed to support CLRC during the review process and included Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs, Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Department of Finance, Department of Treasury, Department of Justice and Attorney General, National Economic and Fiscal Commission and Registry of Political Parties.
The nation-wide consultations was conducted on 5th March – 18th May 2023 to which the Registry of Political Parties played an integral part in gauging the views of the people on the four key areas of inquiry. Apart from the nation-wide consultations, the Registry of Political Parties submitted a technical paper on how the political party system would be affected by the direct election of the Prime Minister.
A final report including the recommendations is expected to be submitted to the Prime Minister and NEC in February 2024 before it goes to Parliament for deliberation and rectification.
Finally, the Registry of Political Parties is grateful to be part of the government’s reform initiatives and thanks the CLRC in particular for providing the leadership in this important government activity. The Registry of Political Parties looks forward to contributing meaningfully to future reform initiatives set by the National Government.

Commemorating the Late Dr Alphonse Gelu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 May 2024 23:12:00 +0000

By William Garena
The 4th of January 2024 marks the first year of the late Dr Alphonse Gelu’s death anniversary. This article in a way is part of commemorating the tremendous contributions the late Dr Gelu has had on the Registry of Political Parties through his professionalism and wonderful personality. Since joining the Registry of Political Parties as the Deputy Registrar in 2011 to his appointment as the Registrar in 2013, and until his resignation in April 2022, he has contributed enormously to the development pf political parties and democracy in the country. He will always be remembered as an astute commentator and expert in the National Elections, and a fine academic and researcher in the field of political science and public policy. But more so, his name will be synonymous with the word “Democracy”.
The work of the Registry of Political Parties began to take prominence under his leadership as the Registrar through his prudent administration of the Office, and the significant work programs and key activities he initiated. The late Dr Gelu had continued to promote and uphold principles of democracy through political parties during his tenure as the Registrar.

OLIPPAC: The work on reviewing the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) after the Supreme Court decision in 2010 will remain a testament to the late Dr Gelu’s tireless efforts in strengthening the political party system. This could have been one of his greatest legacies if the revised OLIPPAC was passed in Parliament. Although attempts were unsuccessful in passing the OLIPPAC over the last three parliamentary terms, the review process continued. He believed that once the revised OLIPPAC is passed, it would greatly strengthen political parties as important political institutions. The new law would be integral to creating political stability and most importantly, for political parties to recruit, train and produce strong political leaders in driving the country’s development agendas forward. Dr Gelu asserted that the focus of the revised OLIPPAC is to strengthen and promote political parties as an important institution of democracy, as opposed to regulating the behaviour of Members of Parliament (MPs).

L&D PROGRAM: Throughout his tenure at the Registry, Dr Gelu emphasised the need for political parties to be more structured and organised by introducing the Learning and Development (L&D) Program that ran from 2012 - 2022. It is a flagship program of the Registry that focuses on training party executives in building their capacity on how to effectively manage their respective political parties. The trainings were conducted in a series of workshops that was facilitated by Dr Gelu and staffs of the Registry, together with key partners such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Australian Labour Party (ALP) and the Australian Liberal Party.

AWARENESS AND ELECTION OBSERVATIONS: Political parties’ awareness is an ongoing activity that was identified by the late Dr Gelu as a key activity in raising public awareness about the important roles political parties play in service delivery and how they contribute towards nation-building. The awareness drive is a nation-wide campaign aimed at promoting political parties which the late Dr Gelu spearheaded effortlessly. It involves activities such as district visits, radio talk-back, Political Party Expos, cultural show visits, merchandising and advertisements, etc.
According to Dr Gelu, the rural masses do not know why it is important to vote for a political party, or they do not know which party their MPs belong to. He argued that the Registry must be financially equipped to continue to roll-out awareness so sufficient information is accessible to the vast majority of people throughout the country. This is crucial because people will be able to make better choices when voting for a political party in the National General Elections and the LLG Elections. The work on awareness was based on the theme, “know a party, join a party, Know a party, vote a party” Due to the work on awareness, the Registry of Political Parties has participated as domestic observers for the National General Elections and LLG Elections since 2012.
Unlike other domestic election observers, the Registry’s election observation focuses on the performance of political parties and the performances of women candidates. Dr Gelu was a staunch advocate for the legislation of women’s political participation and representation. In the 2017 National General Elections Report by the Registry and the draft report of the 2022 National General Elections, the awareness on political parties has proved fruitful in that more than 70 percent of seats in Parliament was has been won by party endorsed candidates compared to independent candidates in the last two elections. The late Dr Gelu was adamant that awareness on political parties must continue with funding support from the government.

ADMINISTRATION: As the Registrar, he was very committed in ensuring that the operations of the Registry was managed efficiently and the development of the Registry’s Corporate Plan 2017-2022 captured the necessary plan and vision on how political parties should be administered. Under his leadership, he made the following critical decisions to allow for the Registry to function sufficiently in supporting its programs:
- Revised the OLIPPAC;
- Initiated office restructure and established self-accounting system;
- Secured funds to purchase new IT Server;
- Established partnerships with key stakeholders; and
- Initiated the Registry’s quarterly news publication “Singaut Bilong Politics”.
>Br> He has been a mentor to many of us in this office and a fair and loving “Boss” who is deserving of a highly regarded statesman. The late Dr Gelu was a humble and dedicated professional who served the country with commitment and distinction during his term as the Registrar of Political Parties.
We pay tribute to him and celebrate his life’s work and service to the Registry of Political Parties, his family and friends and to his country.

TANIKIU BADA HEREA DR GELU!

Revised OLIPPAC Consultation in 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 May 2024 23:03:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana
The process of consultation began long ago after the decision of Supreme Court in 2010 nullifying certain provisions in the OLIPPAC, 2003. The Registry started the consultation process in Port Moresby, Alotau and Kokopo. The consultations in Port Moresby involved experts in Politics and Law that generated a lot of discussions and ideas in revising the Organic Law.
In April 2012, a team was put together and led by late Dr. Alphonse Gelu who was the Registrar at that time. Other stakeholders included National Research Institute (NRI); Department of Justice and Attorney General (DJAG); University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG); Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC); the Office of State Solicitor; late Dr. Ray Anere; late Dr. Henry Okole; Mr. John Kouni; and late Mr. Paul Bengo (First Registrar). The team also gave opportunity to the Commissioners of the IPPCC and they are: late Sir Andrew Trawen; Mr. Nau Badu; Dr Orovu Sepoe; Mr. Simon Ila; and others, which included late Dr. Laurence Kalinoe; and the former Chief Secretary late Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc to give their views on the proposed revised OLIPPAC.
The proposed revised OLIPPAC was approved by the National Executive Council (NEC), however, it was not tabled and debated on the floor of Parliament for passage in 2014. In 2017 after the National General Election, the O’Neill-Abel Government made a commitment to reactivate the proposed revised OLIPPAC for tabling and passing in Parliament. The Registry responded immediately by taking on board the commitment and again undertook another consultation process on the proposed revised OLIPPAC.
In 2019 the Registry was requested by the Office of the State Solicitor to conduct a nation-wide OLIPPAC consultation before it gave legal clearance for it to be tabled and debated in Parliament. In this nation-wide consultation process, the Registry consulted 2 provinces per region and this included Western Highlands; Jiwaka; Madang; Morobe; Milne Bay; Central; East New Britain; and New Ireland Provinces. The consultation was conducted in the form of public forums and meetings which the teams met with two groups of people. The first one was the target groups, which was mostly comprised of the Provincial Administration or the Provincial Management Team (PMT) and the Civil Society and interest groups which included (Women, Youths, and people with special needs (disabilities), LLG ward Councilors and Presidents and the general public). The second one was the focus groups, mostly students from the Secondary Schools (especially Grade Twelves’) and the Tertiary Institutions such as the Universities and Colleges. In 2020 the proposed revised OLIPPAC Bill was once again gazzetted and submitted to Parliament for debate and passage. However, the proposed revised OLIPPAC Bill was never tabled, debated and passed in the 10th Parliament. In March 2023, the Marape – Rosso Government has now made commitment to revive the proposed revised OLIPPAC Bill again after two attempts of passage of the Organic Law.
As of late, the State Solicitor has informed the Registry that since the last gazzetted Proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill and the Proposed Revised OLIPPAC Bill 2020 have lapsed in the last Parliament. It is now necessary for a consultation to be undertaken again, but this time, only with the important key stakeholders who will be immediately affected by this law, which are: political parties; and the MP’s. Hence, this consultation will be focused on these two groups and intents to achieve the purpose of:
 Getting the executives of political parties and MPs to know about the OLIPPAC; and
 Getting the views of the political parties, their executives and MPs on the proposed changes to the OLIPPAC.

This will be the third attempt to get the proposed revised OLIPPAC passed by Parliament in this 11th Parliament.

Passing of Senior States Man and Former Registrar, Late Paul Bengo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 May 2024 22:54:00 +0000

By John Bishop
It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of the founding Registrar of Political Parties, Mr Paul Bernard Baundi Bengo BA, CBE, CSM on the 15th of January 2024.
Mr Bengo served the Registry as the Registrar from 2001 to 2008 until reaching the retirement age as per the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties & Candidates. Mr Bengo was a seasoned Public Servant who had served many Government organizations with distinction and loyalty. They included Secretaries of Lands, Defence and Provincial Secretary for East Sepik to name only a few.
However it is in his capacity as the Registrar of Political Parties that he made his mark towards the development of political parties in Papua New Guinea when the Organic Law was enacted in 2000 when Sir Mekere Morauta was the Prime Minister. His contributions to the development of Papua New Guinea was well documented and highlighted during his funeral service by Ms Dulcie Somare and Ambassador Gabriel Dusava.

His contributions to development of political parties in PNG as the founding Registrar was recognized and as a small token of appreciation the Registry’s conference room was named after him in 2014. The conference room is known as “Bengo Room” May his soul rest in eternal peace

Official Swearing In of Registrar Mr Emmanuel Pok

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:58:00 +0000

By Claudio Labeli
On 16th of November 2023, the Registrar of Political Parties Mr Emmanuel Pok was sworn in at the Government House witnessed by staff of the Registry including family and friends of Mr Pok. The occasion finally eventuated after numerous cancellation of this event in the past month. In the absence of the Governor General Sir Bob Dadae, Speaker of Parliament and Acting Governor General, Honourable Joe Pomat was there to officiate at the ceremony at Konedobu.
A luncheon was later hosted back at the Registy’s conference room and Mr Pok acknowledged everyone who contributed to his official appointment including staff and his immediate family. Mr Pok was officially appointed in August 2023 as the Registrar by the Board
Since the establishment of the office in 2002, prior to his appointment, previous Registrars included senior statesman Mr Paul Bengo, Lawyer and Judge Sir Kina Bona, Senior Academic and Political Scientist Late Dr Alphonse Gelu. Mr Pok encouraged the staff to work together as a team and to promote the mission vision of the Registry in his term as the Registrar.

2022 National General Elections Preliminary Findings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 21:40:00 +0000

By Emmanuel Pok
1. Introduction
The National General Election is a significant national event, where it is conducted every five years. The political parties with their elected members are given the mandate by the people through the national elections to be in the parliament. During this national event, state institutions and other stakeholders also participate in the conduct of the elections to make sure that the election activities and the electoral processes are undertaken according to the law and follows democratic best practices.
The election observation is the process by which state agencies and other stakeholders or independent organizations deploy observers to witness the electoral process. The process of election observation has been an important avenue for the Registry of Political Parties to monitor and observe the performances of political parties and their candidates in terms of popularity, performance of women candidates and at the same time to gauze the views and feedbacks of the voters and supporters on what they think about political parties.
As a constitutional office mandated by the Papua New Guinea’s National Constitution through the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC), its mandate is to administer the affairs of political parties and their candidates and to protect the elections from outside and hidden influences (Part VI Subdivision H. PNG Constitution, 59). The Registry of Political Parties main function is to ensure that there is political stability and integrity within the parliamentary system of government. It also ensures that Political Parties as institutions of the State complies with the OLIPPAC in carrying out their day to day party activities.
Moreover, the Registry of Political Parties at all times promote the idea of democracy in terms of equal participation and representation in parliament. It has seen that this has been an ongoing issue where although women have contested in every election, there has still been a low parliamentary representation for women on the floor of Parliament in PNG. After the 2017 National Elections, the outcome in terms of women representation was that no single seat was won, and all three seats occupied by women were all lost. As a result, the Registry has made its position clear that the number of women to contest the elections needs to be increased and more seats to be won in Parliament.
So, the Registry in the last five years has encouraged political parties to endorse an equal number of both men and women to contest for elections. The reason behind this commitment is because the Registry is committed in promoting democracy in our country. The important principle of equality and inclusiveness is what the Registry dearly holds on to. And that is what the Registry wants to be entrenched in our country by having more women as members of political parties and political parties to endorse more women in elections and for them to be successful.
In this 2022 national election, the Registry of Political Parties randomly selected specific seats to observe based on the mandate and main focus to observe and reflect the performances of political parties with their candidates and women candidates, and most importantly the electoral process as well.
2. Electorates Observed
The Electorates observed were randomly selected and considered by the Registry as 'specific and significant Seats' as they were contested by women candidates or have national and political significance such as Political Party Leaders, former Prime Ministers and also other interested candidates (i.e. Political Party Executives who will be contesting the 2022 national election).

The following are the specific Seats observed:
REGION/PROVINCE SPECIFIC SEATS TO OBSERVE SIGNIFICANCE OF SEATS OBSERVED HIGHLANDS REGION
Eastern Highlands Eastern Highlands Provincial Women candidate (Former Governor) Goroka Open Women Candidate Western Highlands Western Highlands Provincial Party Leader Hagen Open Party Leader Jiwaka Jiwaka Provincial Party Leader Anglimb South Waghi Open Women Candidates Enga Enga Provinical & Wabag Open Party Founder & Leader SOUTHERN REGION
Milne Bay Milne Bay Provincial Party Leader/Women candidate Alotau Open Women candidates Samarai-Murua Open Party Executive/Women candidate Gulf Kerema Open Former IPPCC Staff Central Central Provincial Women candidates Abau Open Party Leader Rigo Open Women Candidates Hiri-Koiari Open Women Candidates Kairuku Open Women Candidates National Capital District NCD Provincial Women candidates Moresby North-East Open Women candidates Moresby North-West Open Women Candidates Moresby South Open Women Candidates Oro Oro Provincial Party Leader & Women candidates Sohe Open Women candidates Popondetta Open Party Leader MOMASE REGION
East Sepik East Sepik Provincial Party Leader/Women candidates Yangoru-Saussia Open Party Leader Madang Madang Open Party Leader/Women candidates Morobe Morobe Provincial/Markham Open/Huon Gulf Open/Lae Open Women candidates NEW GUINEA ISLANDS REGION
New Ireland Kavieng Open 2 dominant parties (NA&PPP)/Women candidates West New Britain West New Britain Provincial Women candidates Talasea Open Women Candidates Nakanai Open East New Britain Kokopo Open Women Candidates
Year Total number of Candidates No. of Party Endorsed Candidates No. of Independent Candidates No. of Female Candidates No. of Male Candidates 2022 3620 1261 2359 159 3461 Total number of candidates that contested the 2022 NGE
Year of Election Party Endorsed Women Candidates Independent Women Candidates Total women Candidates Female MP’s in Parliament 2022 64 95 159 2 Party Endorsement of Women Candidates & Women Members in Parliament 3. Key Findings
Campaign and Polling Period  Campaigning was more intense at the last two weeks of the campaign period.  Campaign rallies were conducted in a central area only by major political parties (i.e. PNC and Pangu Pati)  Party branding through posters, banners and merchandising was evident mostly by well-established parties.  Political parties and candidates alike have used social media as an effective form of displaying campaign messaging and branding.  Support to political parties was lacking.  Political Party support to women candidates was still lacking. Parties tended to support women candidates in terms of nominations who were popular media personalities.  Women candidates supported other women candidates during campaigning using LPV.  Supporters and voters were not party followers but were interested only in party merchandises and campaign materials.  Voters support to women candidates especially women voters. Women still voted for male candidates.  Votes pre-determined and marked by one person (tanim box and katim vote)  Bribery, intimidation, and hijacking of ballot boxes and papers was evident (i.e. at Maninga Field in Goroka)  Voters voting on candidates’ personalities and not on party lines.  Block voting - Votes based on tribal, clans and family ties (especially in the Highlands region).  Women voters turned away because the votes been pre-determined.  Voters’ names not on the common roll although voter turn-out had increased compared to 2017 NGE.  Under age voting was evident.  108 seats won by Party endorsed candidates including 2 women party endorsed candidates  9 seats won by independent candidates  Appointment of PPC’s, Provincial Administrators, Returning Officers and etc at the eve of elections has caused inconvenience and delay in the election processes.  Polling venues started very late.
4. Recommendations  Revisit the Revised OLIPPAC and push for it to be passed in Parliament as it is an important Organic Law to strengthen the political party system and to also contribute to strengthen the electoral process.
 Revisit the Report on the Provincial Consultation on the Inquiry into the Organic Law on the National and Local-Level Government Elections and Related Laws and Systems that was submitted to the Parliament in 2019.
 Revisit the electoral process and improve on the voting system. Based on our observation, biometric voting system is the way forward in addressing many of the issues that occurred during the 2022 national elections
 Increase funding for awareness on political parties to be conducted in the rural and LLG based areas.
 LLG elections should be conducted before the National General Elections for the common roll vetting purposes.
 There should be no appointments of PPC’s, PA’s, RO’s and ARO’s and Election Managers on the eve of elections. Appointments must be done at least 3 months year prior to the National General Elections.
 More support to women candidates is required by political parties in terms of candidate selection and nomination as well as financial support.
 Stringent criteria is needed for political parties to select and nominate appropriate candidates.

DOWNLOAD PDF COPY

Emmanuel Pok appointed as Acting Registrar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 03:54:00 +0000

By Lorraine Wotomu

Mr. Pok was sworn into office on the 28th of April 2022, before Legal Counsel Mr. David Yamu at the Registry of Political Parties Office, in the presence of Chairman of IPPCC Reverend Roger Joseph and staff of the Registry of Political Parties.
Mr Pok joined the Registry in 2013 as Senior Manager Policy and Referrals and later was promoted to Director Policy and Referrals in 2019 in which he worked with the former Registrar Dr. Alphonse Gelu to provide support to the Political Parties in terms of strengthening and building capacity of political parties in Papua New Guinea with the following programs and initiatives:
 Learning and Development Plan for Party Executives from 2013-2017
 Mentoring of Political Parties form 2018-2022
 Mentoring of selected intending Female Candidates for the National Elections
 District Awareness for Political Parties during cultural Festivals
 Political Party Forums and
 Revised Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) which is a top of the agenda for the Registry

These Programs and initiatives are key activities for the Registry that is closely related to promoting and strengthening Political Parties The Chairman of the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission (IPPCC), Reverend Roger Joseph, Board Members: Mr. Simon Sinai, Mr Kala Aufa and Mr Patrick Patinap, Staff of the Registry of Political Parties and Executives of Political Parties would like to congratulate Mr. Emmanuel Sam Pok on his appointment as Acting Registrar of Political Parties

Gilbert joins Registry as the new Human Resource Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 03:42:00 +0000

By Claudio Labeli

The Registry is excited to welcome Gilbert Hou as its new Human Resources Manager! Gilbert joins us with a wealth of experience in the field, having worked with the Department of Personnel Management for over 20 years before successfully securing the position with the Registry.Originally from Lese village in the Malalaua District of Gulf Province, Gilbert is a career public servant who is dedicated to the development and management of human resources. In his previous role as Manager HR, Payroll with the DPM, he demonstrated his expertise in this field and has earned a reputation as a skilled and dedicated HR professional.

As our new HR Manager, Gilbert is eager to expand his skills and knowledge to meet the unique challenges and opportunities that the Registry presents. We are confident that his experience and expertise will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow and evolve as an organization.The Registry is delighted to have Gilbert on board and looks forward to working closely with him to achieve our goals and objectives. Please join us in welcoming him to the team!

Diagnostic Forum on Women’s Participation in the 2022 Election

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 03:35:00 +0000

By Lorraine Wotomu
The Diagnostic Forum on Women’s Participation in the 2022 National General Election was recently held in Port Moresby. A total of thirty-one (31) women candidates and seven (7) Political Party Executives from over all the country came together to share their experiences and challenges and produce a statement to empower women The statement recommending a range of actions that should be taken by the Government and other partners to ensure elections outcomes in the 2027 national general elections are fair, inclusive and follow the law
During the opening ceremony, Acting Registrar of Political Parties, Mr. Emmanuel Pok said: “The Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission (IPPCC) and Registry of Political Parties is strongly committed to supporting the development of a political culture that is accountable to, and inclusive of the people of Papua New Guinea”.
“We do this by working with political parties, to strengthen their ability to operate more effectively as platforms through which Papua New Guineans can participate in elections and in political life, both as political party members and as candidates. “To be more effective, political parties need to ensure that they are inclusive of the diverse range of Papua New Guineans including women of PNG. We know from the data however, that this has not been the case for most political parties over the many years”, said Mr. Pok
A total of 159 female candidates contested the 2022 National Election with 64 women endorsed by 14 political parties. There have been only nine (9) women elected to the National Parliament since Independence, including the most recent election (2022) with two (2) women successfully elected
 RUFINA Peter-Central Governor and –Peoples National Congress Party (PNC)
 KESSY Sawang- Rai Coast Open MP- People’s First Party (PFP)

Twenty female candidates polled in the top five (5) candidates in counting their respective electorates. This includes the two women declared winners: The two women elected to the National Parliament make up less than 2 percent of the 11th National Parliament’s seat. “It is well-known that candidates have a better chance of being elected if they are endorsed by a political party”, said Mr. Pok Mr. Pok also added that, “IPPCC has been pushing for incentives for political parties to endorse women candidates, this is through the reviewing of the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC). Currently the OLIPPC Act states that, if a party endorses a women, they can recover 10% of the Primary votes cast in the electorate in that election. In the review we- (IPPCC and Registry) proposed that amount to be doubled”,
The IPPCC and Registry have been working closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Women (UN Women) over the years to support and promote the political participation of women in the country through political parties, this is supported with the Mentoring of Women Candidate program, which engages with more than 50 women across the country, to train and connect them with interested political parties”, Pok said.
The Women’s Election Diagnostics were produced in 2007, 2012 and 2017.From 2017 onwards, a number of these proposed actions were delivered by the IPPCC, UNDP, UN Women and ANU; most notably, networking, mentoring and leadership capacity building , with a number of women participating who went on to nominate as female candidates in the 2022 National General Elections. As a direct result of the IPPCC mentoring programme which included political parties in their activities, there has been an increased in the number of female candidates endorsed by political parties in 2022 compared to 2017 NGE; and were able to improve their branding and targeted messages. There were improvements in the election preparation by female candidates and those endorsed by political parties did far better than women who contested as Independent candidates. The Forum is utilized to establish early collaboration for mentoring of women candidates for 2027 National General Election by Political Parties. The forum ran for three (3) days where women met together alone, to discuss their issues and identify their priorities. Then on the 2nd day the women candidates were brought together with election stakeholders to discuss specific issues women identified and plotted a way forward. On the third day, a joint discussion for mentoring between political party executives and women leaders as an early preparation for the 2027 National General Elections
The Key outcomes and findings are to inform Political Parties on ways to better support women candidates over the electoral cycle from 2022 to 2027. This Forum was part of the Women Make the Change Project funded by the governments of Australian and New Zealand and is jointly implemented by the IPPCC and Registry and UNDP.

Code of Conduct awareness in the highlands

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 May 2022 22:44:00 +0000

The Registry of Political Parties in partnership with the United Development Programme (UNDP) conducted a workshop on the Code of Conduct (CoC) on the 24th of May in Mendi in the Southern Highlands Province and 26th of May in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

The objective of this CoC is to ensure that there is integrity instilled in the electoral process and foster a peaceful campaign environment and promote the orderly conduct of elections in this country. In turn the democratic process is well secured so the voters are satisfied and at peace that they have participated fully and so can accept the outcome of the election results.

The CoC document sets out the principles and sets of behavior that the political parties , their candidates, scrutineers and supporters are expected to follow in the Election Periods.In 2017, 22 political parties out of the 45 registered signed the CoC. This 2022 National General Election (NGE) 47 political parties out of the 53 Registered Political Parties have so far agreed to observe and follow the electoral laws and guidelines throughout the entire period.

The event was attended Deputy Provincial Administrator of WHP, Mr Knox Kiap, Country, PNG Country Resident Coordinator of the United Nations HE Mr. Dirk Wegner, Political Party executives, campaign coordinators, scrutineers, NGOs and other election officials. A total of 150 participants attended this significant event.

National Forum on Women's Political Participation Hosted in Alotau 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 14:44:00 +0000

By Claudio Labeli
The Registry of Political Parties held a National Forum on Women’s Political Participation in Alotau, Milne Bay Province starting on the 18th and ending on the 20th of January 2022. The national forum is a partnership of the Registry of Political Parties and UNDP conducting Women’s Mentoring workshops on how to win elections. This came about due to the non political representation of women MPs in the 10th parliament after the national elections in 2017. The Registry of Political Parties initially began conducting the provincial mentoring program and covered all provinces except Hela, Southern Highlands and

New Ireland Province. This later led to the Regional workshop covering three regions except the highlands region. This was due to the disruption by COVID19 Delta strain in mid 2021. The final forum was supposed to be held in November however had to be postponed three times before hosting it in January 2022.This national forum in Alotau will be the final one before the 2022 general election in April. In his opening remarks, the Registrar of Political Parties, Dr Alphonse Gelu stressed that there is not a lot of time remaining before the issue of writs and encouraged Women to affiliate with political parties before going into the elections. The Registrar acknowledged also the support and funding by key stakeholders such as the UNDP, UN Women and the Australian and New Zealand government for their donor funding assistance.

Dignitaries who where present at the forum included UNDP Resident Representative Dirk Wagener, Acting Provincial Administrator Sharon Mua, Alotau MP Hon Charles Abel, Australian High Commissioner HE Jon Philp, UN Women Resident Representative Themaba Kalua and UNDP Assistant Resident Representative Julie Bukikun.

Other stakeholders who where in attendance included PNG Electoral Commission,National Research Institute (NRI) and Transparency International (TI) PNG and selected political parties.

Women’s Mentoring and Awareness Program in the Western Highlands, 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 04:36:00 +0000

By Emmanuel Pok Communicating with women leaders based in the Western Highlands Province was a challenge for the Registry, as there is no women’s representative in the Provincial Assembly since 2017. For unknown reasons the appointment of women’s representative to the Provincial Assembly has taken almost 3 years. Regardless of the communication barrier with the Provincial Government, the Registry used its existing local contact to give out notices and invitations to women leaders to attend the first women’s mentoring program. The Registry of Political Parties have conducted election observations for both National and Local Level Government and did some party awareness in the province, so those existing contact were used to draw women in the province to attend.

The conference room at the McRoyal Hotel was filled to capacity with women leaders and members of various women led associations. We were astonished by the attendance, and the content of information shared by the women leaders that attended. Women spoke freely about the challenges they face every day, which are common to other provinces, but they also gave testimony of the positive developments that are happening in their women’s groups and associations that needs support and further assistance.
Our program started at 9:30 am with morning tea, and continued until about 2:15pm when we had a combined afternoon tea and lunch before closing the program. Our registry at the entrance recorded a total of 179 women in attendance, but we had some women that came in late and stood outside and listened to what we were discussing. We have observed that the interest was so overwhelming, unlike other provinces that we have delivered similar program. We noticed that women from Western Highlands have organized themselves and attended the program according to their established sectors or societies, for instance the president of the provincial nurses association who has a political ambition brought with her 7 nurses to the meeting. We were surprised that nearly one third of those attended we from the Women in Business Association, subsidiary to that association were smaller groups like the women in coffee, the flower garden and city cleaning group. We had a radical group of women from Faith based association, they were very vocal in the meeting and advocated for the government to recognize the God given potential and talents women have at the national scene. There is a ‘Women in Politics’ association that still exists in the province. The president a, Ms. Maggie Numdi said the association was established during the tenure of Dame Carol Kidu when she was the Minister for Community Development. She said the association still exists despite lack of support and recognition from the Government and relevant NGOs. We were privileged to have some business women who shared their success stories that motivated other women as well.

Discussions

After the opening prayer by a female pastor, Mr. Pok introduced the team and made clear the rationale of the program and its expected outcomes. He gave a detailed background of the nationwide ‘Women’s Mentoring and Awareness program as an initiative of the Registry of Political Parties that is well supported by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nation Women’s Program (UNWomen).
Because of the time factor, Mr. Pok asked only women leaders of each association/group to introduce herself and the nature of her association’s business. He also asked women leaders who stood for past elections or want to stand for elections in the future to introduce themselves as well. He explained, that this is a public forum to get introduced to women leaders who are ready to take on political leadership, so they should feel free to come out and talk. After knowing and fully understanding the theme of the program, every women in the conference hall wanted to give their piece of thought about women in politics.

After all the introductions, Mr. Pok did a power point presentation with the topic “Awareness on Women Political Participation and Representation”. The presentation gave an overview of women’s engagement in national politics before and after the 2017 national elections in Papua New Guinea. He briefly gave some statistics on how women candidates polled in the national elections and how they can engage themselves meaningfully with political parties to gain support and contest future elections. In his presentation he highlighted some very important initiative taken by the Registry of Political Parties to legislate the participation of women in Politics after the women’s reserved seat bill failed. He made reference to the revised OLIPPAC and explained on the 20% quota and the anticipated impact this section of the law would have when it gets passed.
Mr. Pok made it clear that women and children’s voices are not represented in Parliament as there is no women MP elected after the 2017 elections. A very important pillar of democracy, “equal representation” is absent. He reiterated that women represents half of PNG’s population and them not represented in parliament is a sad situation in our democracy. He encouraged women to organize themselves and mobilize their resources in unity to support women who have leadership qualities that are willing to contest elections.

Some of the key points presented apart from those mentioned above are:
• Roles and Responsibilities of IPPCC and the OLIPPAC
• How to be a member of a political party and its importance
• Contact address of political parties
• Collecting Women leader’s profile and the expected outcome, an initiative of IPPCC and UNDP
The session also gave the opportunity for the women to ask questions to the team. Alot of issues were raised during the session. Some included; election administration, cultural barriers, financial, security, political parties including the issue of the Reserve Seats. Mr Pok briefly outlined the reasons why this bill was shelved. He also highlighted the Registry’s work in promoting women’s participation in elections especially the idea of the proposed 20% quota by political parties should the Revised Organic Law on Political Parties and Candidates Commission (OLIPPAC) be passed in this parliament term. Many women welcomed the idea. The interaction and discussion amongst women participants opened the avenue to have a continued dialogue through a committee that they proposed to form after the team leaves.

Many women acknowledged that this program empowered them to now participate meaningfully through this democratic process of electing good leaders in particular women leaders. They also took the time to acknowledge the importance of this activity and thanked the Registry and its partners for bringing this program to their level.

Central Province Governor Visits the Registry of Political Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 04:24:00 +0000

By William Garena The Registry of Political Parties was delighted to welcome Governor for Central Province Honourable Robert Agarobe, who paid a courtesy visit to the office on 4th February 2021. It was a first for such a visit by Governor Agarobe since being elected into office in the 2017 National General Elections. Governor Agarobe was accompanied by his electoral staff Mr Leonard Tale and met with the Registrar Dr Alphonse Gelu and some staff of the Registry.

It was great to see a national leader such as the Governor in taking time out to visit state agencies such as the Registry of Political Parties to talk about national issues that were affecting the country’s development. The flow of discussions was more informal and open where major discussion points focused on issues of governance but more specifically, on our political system and how it affected our system of government. Governor Agarobe believed that having workable systems in place contributed towards a strong and reliable political system that contributed to having an effective government.
During the meeting the Central Governor raised some specific issues closely related to our system of government. This issues were of great national interest that included votes of no confidence, government formation, direct election of the Prime Minister, roles of MPs in service delivery and strengthening of the political party system. He stressed that by addressing these issues, this could help improve and strengthen the current political system to enable an effective system of government. A brief mention was also made about developmental issues relating closely to land and natural resources which the Central Provincial Government is looking at addressing through their soon to be launched provincial development plan called the “Smart Plan”.
On that note, the Registrar continued the discussions by informing Governor Agarobe on the efforts of the Registry in promoting and strengthening the political party system since 2018. This included work on areas such as the direct election of the Prime Minister, a desk-top study on the electoral/voting system, women’s political participation and representation in Parliament, and the overall promotion of democracy in the country. Copies of concept notes for the work on the areas mentioned above, together with a short brief was prepared and submitted to the Office of the Central Governor for his perusal. Concerns were also raised with Governor Agarobe of funding support from the National Government which has not been forthcoming towards implementing key programs of the Registry.
Towards the end of the discussions, a request was made to Governor Agarobe by the Registrar to bring to the attention of the Government, Parliament and the Prime Minister important issues that included: the passage of the Revised Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) Bill; release of adequate funding to allow the Registry in strengthening the political party system and prepare political parties for the 2022 National Elections; to assist the Registry to promote women in politics; and to recognise and give more prominence to the Registry of Political Parties as a lead state agency in political reform agendas and discussions on national issues that are of interest to our National Leaders and the country as a whole.
The short visit by Honourable Robert Agaraobe proved fruitful and that important issues concerning national interest was discussed in a more open and informal manner. Before taking his leave, Governor Agarobe assured the Registrar that he would relate the Registry’s request that required the Government’s support. The Registry invites and welcomes any of our National Leaders to visit the office and is open to hosting discussions of significant national interest and discussions related closely to promoting and strengthening political parties in Papua New Guinea.

Key Features of Revised Organic Law on Political Parties and Candidates Commission (OLIPPAC) Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 04:08:00 +0000

Some of the Key features that is highlighted in the revised Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates
Key Features of Revised OLIPPAC Bill
1) rules for the registration of political parties;
2) to provide for specific processes for registration of new political parties, reregistration of existing political parties and deregistered or cancelled political parties; and
3) improved monitoring and management of political parties;
4) more professional conduct of executives and members of political parties;
5) increase the discipline of members of political parties; and
6) impose fines and penalties on political parties and executives of political parties when they break the rules.
7) to provide for clear political party policies and ideologies that must be different from each other; and
8) to provide for political parties to fully support their candidates by endorsing, nominating and supporting them; and
9) to provide for the salaries and allowances of the Executives of political parties; and
10) to provide for fair representation and opportunity for women’s participation in politics; and
11) to provide for political parties and independent candidate’s listings to be submitted to the Registry; and
12) to provide for political party dispute resolutions to be dealt with in party constitution; and
13) to provide for the process of invitation to form government as the responsibility of the Registrar; and
14) to provide for the need for the Registry to have investigative and prosecution powers.

Women’s Mentoring and Awareness in East Sepik Province

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 04:03:00 +0000

By William Garena A team from the Registry of Political Parties visited East Sepik Province on the 24th - 26th November 2020 to do awareness on political parties and mentoring for women leaders. This was a key activity for 2020 and is part of the Registry’s program on supporting women’s political representation through political parties. With funding support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this activity together with similar activities in Milne Bay, Western Highlands and Jiwaka was able to be accomplished.

The purpose of the visit was to educate women in East Sepik about political parties and why political parties are important in our democracy. The visit also encouraged women to be members of the 46 political parties currently registered, and how parties could support them in terms of their aspirations towards getting elected into Parliament. Another purpose of the visit was to create a forum for women to engage in political dialogue and for the Registry to identify possible women candidates for the 2022 National Elections, and to prepare them through mentoring in terms of campaign strategies during the course of 2021.
The Team comprised of team leader Mr. William Garena, Mr. Solomon Puana, Ms. Marie Fraghi and Mr. Pepena Amona who began their visits in Wewak under Wewak Urban LLG, Kambagora ward under Wewak Rural LLG, and finally Tangori ward under Numbo LLG. Throughout the visits the Team was supported by Administration Officer for the East Sepik Provincial Council of Women Ms. Norah Kapari, who acted as a resource person and liaised with women leaders from Passam and Kubalea to meet with the Team. The Team took time out to pay a courtesy visit to NBC East Sepik to talk briefly on Radio about political parties, and the purpose and objectives of the Registry’s activity on Women’s Mentoring and Awareness on Political Parties in the province.

In the respective visits, membership forms for people wishing to join political parties were distributed to interested participants. A total of 48 membership forms were collected from a total of 107 participants. Just over 50 percent of the number of participants for all the visits were mostly females as the program emphasised on women however a significant number of males turned up for the meetings particularly at Kambagora and Tangori. Females made up 61 percent of the total number of party membership forms. National Alliance Party had the highest composition of membership from the party membership forms with 13 members showing interest followed by PANGU Pati and PNG Party with 7 members signing up respectively. The collected party membership forms will be given to the respective political parties to make contact with their new members once the Team returns to Port Moresby. Forms for interested women candidates were distributed as well however only 1 female from Wewak was identified to contest the 2022 National Elections.During the visits the impact of the program was immediate where participants were grateful because it gave female participants more confidence in overcoming challenges in contesting elections in the national and sub-national levels. Also participants felt empowered to share the knowledge gained on political parties with neighbouring communities and assured the Registry of their efforts in organising their own awareness through the different ward members.
As a key feature of the visit participants from the respective locations raised pertinent issues in which the Team noted. This included the following: there is a great lack of coordination between the Provincial Women Rep. and the Provincial Council of Women despite the fact that the Provincial Council of Women has 23, 000 registered women; there is a great need for political parties to come out to the rural communities and make themselves known in terms of their party policies and what they stand for; much needed party support to women and youths at the grassroots level through membership enlisting and candidate recruitment; inadequate funding to support appointed women, youth and church reps in the Provincial Assembly which has been an ongoing issue for several years.
Finally, the 3 days visit to East Sepik province proved fruitful and the Team was satisfied with the feedback from participants in the respective locations that the Team visited although the entire province was not covered. From the visit it was evident that more work is needed in the area of awareness on political parties in the rural communities and how political parties can act as pathways for women to be elected into the National Parliament. This would mean that there is a dire need for adequate funding by the National Government to support the Registry in promoting women’s political participation and representation through political parties.

Political Parties and Candidates – The Relationship and the Importance.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:35:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana
Political parties and candidates are key political actors in the election process. Political parties are made up of individuals (members/candidates) who share a common interest or belief in the development of the community and the country.

Candidates who stand for public office are members of political parties or as independents which defines a candidate’s interest/belief and policy position while reflecting a list of issues with which the electorate can identify based upon a political party platform as mirrored in the candidate’s election promises to the public. Candidates represent a party platform or independent platform and with the help and the support of their political parties and supporters, they stand for election, carry out election campaigns, and try to gain support of the people to vote for them.
Political parties and candidates are also political actors that have the potential to be a negative force in the election process. Corrupt practices such as vote-buying, bribery, accusing and defaming of other candidates characters and standing during campaigning, forcing people to vote for a candidate and corruption in election-related decision-making are all examples of where political parties and candidates threaten the functioning of democratic systems rather than support it.
Number of Candidates endorsed by parties from 2002 to 2017 elections:
• 2002 Elections: According 2002 election records 2870 candidates stood for 103 seats. Note: Six electorates in the Southern Highlands Province were declared failed elections by the Electoral Commission. Supplementary elections were held again in May-April in 2003.
• 2007 Elections: A total of 2759 candidates nominated for the 109 seats; just over half of these (1478) stood as independents and 1285 were party endorsed candidates. There were 2658 male candidates and 103 female candidates.
• 2012 Elections: At the time of the 2012 elections a record 46 political parties were registered under the OLIPPAC, 42 of which endorsed candidates in the election. Fifteen of these were new parties. Only 1250 of the 3428 candidates represented political parties: the election saw a high percentage of independent candidates, with 2185 standing as independents.
• 2017 Elections: A total of 45 political parties were registered at that time. According to the official nominations listing by the PNG Electoral Commission 2017, only 31 political parties contested the 2017 general election by fielding candidates while 14 political parties did not endorse any candidates at all. Table below shows the number of candidates endorsed by Political Parties since 2002 – 2017 elections.

Meeting with Transparency International (PNG).

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:29:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana The Registry of Political Parties has been a key partner to the Transparency International – Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) as it has continuously offered its technical assistance to TIPNG’s work on the parallel report on the country’s implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

The UNCAC was adopted in 2003 and was enforced in 2005 and is the first legally binding anti-corruption agreement applicable on a global basis. Under the UNCAC, all member states of governments are to provide a report or review on the implementation and fulfilment of obligations on a multi-year periodic basis. The TIPNG has been engaged by the UNCAC Coalition to provide the parallel report on behalf of the PNG Government to ensure accountability and transparency of the review process.
On Wednesday 24th February 2021, the Registry met with TIPNG’s Representative, Mr. Yambari Haihuie who is the Deputy Director Partnerships and Policy. The meeting was held in Pala Conference Room at the Office of the Registry of Political Parties. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and complete a set of questions in line with Article 7 and 8 of the UNCAC which Papua New Guinea acceded to in 2007. The Registry was identified has one of the key agencies to the UNCAC report as its mandate and work meets the objectives of Article 7 and 8 of the UNCAC which relates to political financing. Other relevant agencies will also be interviewed for their views to finalize the report and published.

Women’s Mentoring & Awareness on Political Parties Program in Milne Bay Province.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:26:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana

The Registry of Political Parties has taken on board the issue of women in political leadership. After the 2017 National Election, the Registry made a commitment and that was to support and promote Women in Political Leadership through its awareness program on Political Parties. In November 2020, the Registry began implementations by conducting the first pilot project on Women’s Mentoring and Awareness on Political Parties program with the support of United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women in selected areas of Milne Bay Province based on the size of LLGs and population. The following areas included Alotau in the Alotau Urban LLG, Samarai Ward in Bwanabwana LLG and Taupota Ward in the Maramatana LLG.
The focus of the program was for the Registry of Political Parties to educate and empower women leaders who intend to contest the 2022 national and the LLG elections and at the same time to inform them about the roles and importance of political parties in any democracy like Papua New Guinea. The first official program was held at Alotau International Hotel, Bagi Conference Center with an attendance of 32 women and only 1 man. The second program was held on the Island of Samarai of Bwanabwana LLG in the Samarai-Murua District which had a good turnout, at least 20 women and 3 men in attendance. The final program was conducted at Taupota in the Maramattana LLG. We had about more than 20 people (20 women and 5 men) who attended and participated. It was good that of the 5 men, the current and former Ward Councilors were present during the awareness.

During the entire awareness program, there were issues and concerns raised in relation to women in political leadership and these included: Lack of support by political parties to women candidates in terms of logistics and finances; lack of women support; lack of funding to women representatives at the sub-national and this has been a big issue and challenge; and lack of presents of political parties in the districts.

Despite the issues and concerns raised many people especially the women folks commended the work Registry was doing in terms of supporting and promoting women. Many have expressed similar views by saying that the program has given them confidence and they now know exactly what to expect and strategies how to overcome challenges. Beside this membership forms were distributed to interested individuals who wanted to join a political party and a total of 41 memberships where collected. Also the Team had four interested women leaders who intend to contest the 2022 elections got registered by filling in the registration forms.

Women’s Mentoring and Awareness on Political Parties in West New Britain Province.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:18:00 +0000

By Solomon Puana

The Mentoring Women and Awareness on Political Parties Program for 2020 ended in West New Britain Province (WNBP). This time it was without the support and assistance of United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women. The Registry in its efforts conducted the program in WNBP from 7th to 11th December 2020. The program was held in four different locations where people especially the women turned up in numbers. The first mentoring women and awareness on political parties program was conducted in Kimbe, the second in Bialla Town, the third in Hoskins and the fourth was in Valoka village. Of the 22 provinces, WNBP was one of the two provinces that had no women candidates contesting the 2017 National Election. The Registry saw that there was a need for an awareness on political parties and mentoring women to be conducted in WNBP to encourage and give confidence to the women. During the entire 4 days program in the four areas of WNBP in which the Registry visited. The Registry was amazed with the interest and turn out of the people especially the women who attended and participated during the programs conducted in those 4 locations.
The first mentoring and awareness program was held at Genesis Haven conference centre in Kimbe where a total of 47 participants (3 males and 44 females) attended the program. Bialla in the East Nakanai LLG was the second location the Registry visited to conduct the party awareness and mentoring women’s program. The program was held at the Bialla Higher Ground Resource Centre. During the program the Team was privileged to have the President for East Nakanai LLG, Mr. James Laula including the Ward Members and Women Leaders. The Registry had a big turn out where a total of 93 participants (both male and female) attended the program. The third and fourth visits were in Hoskins LLG. The awareness and mentoring program was held at the Hoskins LLG Chamber where a total of 73 participants attended. Beside this the Registry concluded its mentoring and awareness program in Valoka village which was not far from Hoskins Town. The turn-out was also good as many people both men and women including the youths and children were all there to listen to the Team.

The mentoring and awareness program was a success for the Registry as it created a dialogue amongst the women folks. The women in WNBP have expressed their views that this program is a first of kind, in terms of information dissemination. With the presentations and experiences shared by the Registry, they now have come to realize the strength of networking and how effective it can be used to work against money politics. Women in WNBP were not organized and with this program, it has encouraged women to organize and work together at the LLG ward levels so that they can achieve what they want.
During the entire mentoring and awareness program, a total of 46 memberships where enlisted. And also a total of 5 women leaders have put their hands up to contest the 2022 National Election. 3 women intended to contest the Talasea Open Seat while 2 women intended to contest the West New Britain Provincial Seat in 2022 National Election. These are the women that the Registry of Political Parties will be working closely with.

Preparations for the 2022 National Elections

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 03:22:00 +0000

The Registry of Political Parties has outlined its plans to prepare for the 2022 national elections. In 2021, the Registry is rolling out the following activities;
• Awareness on political parties
• Conducting workshops for political parties to prepare them for the 2022 national elections
• Mentoring of women candidates
These are the three main activities for the Registry in 2021. The roll out of these activities however will depend very much on the funding that it will get from the Government.Beside the roll out of these activities, there are a couple of urgent matters that the Registry would like to bring to the attention of the public but more so the Members of Parliament because of their importance to the mandate of the Registry.
The first is the need for the passage of the Revised Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC). The passage of the Revised OLIPPAC has been outstanding since 2013. In 2021, the National Executive Council in its NEC decisions approved the Revised OLIPPAC and it has been gazette and with Parliament now for distribution. Historically, the passage of the OLIPPAC was one of the significant reforms passed under the Leadership of the late Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta. It totally transformed the political landscape in the country. Due to the Supreme Court decision of 2010 which nullified certain provisions of the Law, the OLIPPAC therefore was revised. The Revision of the OLIPPAC started in 2013 up until now awaiting debate and passage on the floor of Parliament.
We are now in 2021, the Registry is working around the clock to get the Revised OLIPPAC to be deliberated this year before the 2022 national elections. The approval by NEC in 2020 is a positive step in moving the Revised OLIPPAC forward therefore the Registry is asking the Government to put the Revised Law on the agenda of Parliament this year.
The second issue that the Registry is now confronted with is the recent joining of small parties by MPs. While it is the prerogative of the MPs to make such decision and action, these small parties did not win any seats in the 2017 national elections and have become targets for MPs who want to become leaders of political parties. The result of MPs joining these small parties is counterproductive to the view of the Registry who want to see parties winning seats in national elections rather than parties getting MPs through such practice. It defeats the whole purpose of having strong parties with strong policies that attracts support from the people during elections rather than MPs joining these small parties at their own convenience.
An important consideration too to this practice is that these small parties would become “one man parties” and the executives would be on public payroll with the Presidents and Treasurers receiving monthly stipends and the General Secretaries receiving fortnightly salaries. These are executives who failed to work hard in winning seats in elections but now will be on payroll due to a MP joining their party. The cost of stipends and salaries is another additional costs to the public finance.
The Registry is now looking at this matter to discourage MPs from making such decisions due to the costs involved and more so undermining the ability of the party executives to work extra hard to win seats during the elections.

PNG TOPS COUNTRIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE REGULATION

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 03:09:00 +0000

By Dr Alphonse Gelu
The Registrar, Dr Alphonse Gelu attended a meeting in London organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat from February 10th to February 12th, 2020. The meeting was attended by 16 countries in the Commonwealth and to discuss how the countries have legislated in this area and how effective it was in their respective countries.
For many of the countries that attended, they have come up with various laws and measures to address campaign finance however many have failed in passing the laws in their respective Parliaments. Jamaica and South Africa are the only other two countries that have laws in place but for Papua New Guinea, the OLIPPAC outlined clearly what is campaign finance and the need to comply in terms of disclosure both by the candidates and the political parties.
The Registrar while addressing the meeting mentioned that there are still challenges that needed close scrutiny and some of these had been captured in the Revised OLIPPAC. But from this experience and knowledge, it was something positive for Papua New Guinea and its Leaders who were determined to institute legislative regulations to ensure that money used in the elections are “clean money” and were used for the intended purpose. The need to disclose the money is also an important step to ensuring that transparency is nurtured and maintain in the election process in the country.