Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai said, the writs will be issued in September 26 and elections will proceed as planned.
He said so far Finance Department has released K52 million from the K160.9 million which was approved by the Government for LLG elections and that money has been used for electoral roll verification and update for over 370 LLGs across the country and election preparations.
“We have K108.9 million yet to be released and that money we will need to conducted the elections. On this note, I am also appealing to our stakeholder partners such as the Provincial Administrations to work with your respective Provincial Election Advisory Committees to support and deliver the LLG elections which a province based election activity.
Mr. Sinai said that the committee has agreed to look for the balance of the funding required to conduct the election and the electoral commission will stick to the election timetable and issue the writs on 26 September 2024.
For the pending by-elections, Mr. Sinai said that the committee took note of the vacant seats and highlighted the need to look for funding and conduct the by-elections as early as next year.
The open seats that due for by-elections include, Pailea-Porgera in Enga Province, Dei Council in Western Highlands, Aitape-Lumi in West Sepik Province and Usino-Bundi in Madang.
The Inter Department Election Committee is made up of lead agencies such as Department of Prime Minister, National Executive Council, Department of Finance, Department of Treasury, Department of Justice and Attorney General, Police, Defense and Correctional Services which the peak election management body that ensures that elections are conducted successfully.
