The Electoral Commissioner, Patilias Gamato, has sought the assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to co-coordinate and support over 100 electoral observers who will be in the country come polling period.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Roy Trivedy, welcomed the Electoral Commissioners request.
“We’re delighted to be able to coordinate the presence of international election observers across the country to help ensure free and fair elections,” he said.
Trivedy says the UN Development Program will support the observers by organising briefing and training, access to polling stations, and debriefing them after the election is over.
At the conclusion of the national elections, observer groups will provide reports and recommendations to the Electoral Commission.
Earlier in the year, the PNGEC had received interests from organisations to deploy observers during the election period.
According to the Electoral Commissioner, “observers will come from the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union, Great Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Transparency International PNG, Pacific Islands Forum, and Melanesian Solidarity Group.”
The exact number of international, regional and domestic, observation groups remains unconfirmed.
International election observers play an important role in promoting public confidence in ensuring that the true democracy of the election process is maintained.
They should in no way endorse or support candidates or interfere in any way with the election process.
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Image Source: UNDP
