PORT VILA (Pacnews)— The Election Observers Group deployed during last month’s poll in Vanuatu says the country’s electoral roll is fundamentally flawed.
The group’s chairman, Pastor Willie David Saul, made the observation in his report to the electoral Commission.
He said there were 127,000 registered voters, which he said was 20,000 more than the census projections of people over the age of 18.
The report said the presence of the observers appeared to have worked as a deterrent to activists who corrupted the electoral process in recent elections.
The group has urged the government to computerize the electoral roll.
HONOLULU (Pacnews) — Several Samoans are scheduled to testify in a federal drug trial now underway in Honolulu. The trial, according to sources, is expected to last two weeks.
The four Samoans, Packward Kaleilani Toelupe, Iosefo Nofo Sagote, Lancelot Nick Bartley and Tipasa Ese Sagote Jr., have pleaded not guilty to the drug charges.
They were arrested and charged in September last year with several federal drug charges. A superseding indictment against the defendants was issued in February this year.
In a separate drug case, which involves a family of four and several Tongan nationals, a trial date is yet to be determined.
PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) — The former commander of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, Sam Kauona, is complaining that the Papua New Guinea government is not funding the island’s provincial government properly.
He said the failure to provide enough money to the Bougainville transitional administration led by Gov. John Momis will create a power vacuum.
Kauona said the PNG government should pay more attention to setting up an autonomous Bougainville government, and not so much to the issue of disarming the former combatants.
NADI (Pacnews) — Delegates from the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum meet here this week to discuss regional security concerns such as people smuggling, drug issues, money laundering and financial intelligence units.
The Forum Regional Security Committee will also hear from the regional bodies for police, customs and immigration on issues relating to law enforcement cooperation.
Updates will be provided on the implementation of the 1992 Honiara Declaration on law enforcement cooperation. The committee will also discuss new approaches for peace building efforts in line with the 2000 Biketawa Declaration on good governance and guiding principles.
Some of these approaches include the dispatching last December of the Forum’s first election observer group to monitor the national elections in the Solomon Islands, and a regional workshop on leadership codes in March 2002.
Prior to the meeting of the Forum Regional Security Committee, a regional workshop on the international chemical weapons convention was held on June 10-11 here in Nadi, Fiji. This focused on basic obligations, legislative issues and environmental aspects.
