PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) — Papua New Guinea’s Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen has declared that he and his team are ready to conduct this year’s general election and deliver a result.
He was speaking last week at a ceremony in which Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane signed the writs for the 109 electorates for the elections to begin.
Over the last three days, hundreds of candidates nominated across the country, including Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, who is seeking a final term, and Bart Philemon, who is out to end National Alliance’s reign in power.
Nominations will close on Thursday when the electoral commissioner announces the confirmed list of candidates contesting the elections. So far well over 3,000 intending candidates have submitted their bio-data to contest, but that figure could climb once nominations close.
As of last Friday, election materials were being loaded onto containers and shipped to ports around the country for distribution to all district centers in the respective electorates.