During the election summit held today at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby, Chief Secretary to Government Ivan Pomaleu echoed the words of the Prime Minister James Marape on the need for electoral reform in the country.
Mr Pomaleu said that following the conclusion of the 2022 National General Election, the Prime Minister James Marape, in his inaugural address to the 11th Parliament acknowledged that the recent election had demonstrated the need for electoral reform.
“Since then, Prime Minister Marape has been clear that work to reform our electoral system must start early to ensure that we deliver a new electoral system by the time of our 50th anniversary of Independence in 2025 and well ahead of the next election taking place in 2027 and that is the reason we’re all here today.
“This National Election Summit has been convened as an initiative of the Inter-departmental Election Committee (IDEC), which I co-chair with PNG Electoral Commissioner, Simon Sinai.
“The purpose of the summit is twofold. First, to hear from the experts, observers and stakeholders about their different experiences and views from the 2022 election. And the second, to take those experiences, views and learning to help us formulate practical and evidence-based recommendations for reform,” Pomaleu said.
The Chief Secretary said the participants will hear from a number of different speakers. Each will speak from their own experiences by outlining what worked well in the 2022 NGE and what went wrong.
“This is an important part of informing our future reform agenda.
“Tomorrow and Wednesday, the summit will move to a closed session, working with representatives and stakeholders from the agencies presenting today to map options for future electoral reform. And off course, this work is not happening in isolation.
“As the Honourable Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee outlines in his keynote address, the recommendations arising from this summit will inform the work of the Special Parliamentary Committee on the 2022 Election and this will in turn provide options to the Government and the Parliament,” he said.
Mr Pomaleu said it is likely that as we proceed to identify reforms, that there will be a need to look at a range of options. Some will be administrative in nature and easy to progress. Others may require Constitutional or legislative change. Some will require early incorporation into the annual budget process.
