‘Citizens Only’ Election
p. 14 · Read in the full issue
Voting, in Papua New Guinea’s first general elections since inde pendence, was scheduled to begin on June 18 and continue for three weeks.
Conspicuous absentees from the polling this time are the country’s 40,000 whites who find themselves disfranchised by the government ruling that in these elections citizen ship, and not merely residence, is the qualification for voting.
The only whites entitled to vote are the relatively few who have become citizens by naturalisation.
More than 700 candidates had nominated for the 109 seats in the National Parliament when nomina tions closed on May 9, but this num ber was expected to grow because of communication problems with remote areas.
Some seats attracted more than 15 candidates. Because of problems with printing and paper, these seats are excluded from the general rule that ballot papers carry photographs of the candidates for the benefit of voters who can’t read.
Electoral officials sworn to secre cy and accuracy have the job of fill ing out ballot papers for people who request help. In some remote and primitive areas, most votes are being recorded in this way.
Every elector in PNG votes for two candidates one for his prov ince, and one for his immediate
area, known as an open electorate.
There are 20 provincial electorates and 89 open electorates.
The sealed ballot boxes are not to be opened until the night of July 9, when counting is to begin.
Results of the elections are ex pected to be declared much more rapidly than at previous elections because preferential voting has been dropped in favour of first-past-the post.
Although an active party system has developed in PNG, and election campaigning is in party style, party considerations are not expected to weigh very heavily in the elections themselves.
Many candidates did not commit themselves to parties, preferring to leave their options open until after the counting.
This is expected to lead to the same situation as that which applied after the last general election, when the poll itself failed to establish the strength of the parties.
Party strengths and the emergence of a coalition government were es tablished during a lobbying period after the elections and before the first sitting of parliament.
PNG political leaders see a simi lar lobbying period towards the end of July as rivalling the elections in importance in the creation of the new government.