The Jiwaka Provincial Police Commander (PPC), acting Superintendent Laimo Asi, has commended his police personnel and the people of Jiwaka for maintaining peace and order throughout the Local Level Government (LLG) election period, despite a few minor issues.
PPC Asi said the people of Jiwaka displayed maturity and respect for the democratic process by voting peacefully from the start of polling until its completion.
“The voters in the province behaved well from day one till the end of the polling and elected their leaders through the democratic process,” PPC Asi said.
He explained that polling in Jiwaka was initially scheduled to begin on Saturday, 25 October, but was delayed due to logistical and other manageable challenges. Polling eventually commenced on Monday, 27 October, in various parts of the province.
According to PPC Asi, polling in Minz and Banz began on Tuesday and continued the following day, while other LLGs conducted polling on Thursday and Friday. Jimi District went to the polls on Friday, 31 October, with polling concluding the next day on Saturday, 1 November.
He said all ballot boxes had since been transported to Minz town for counting.
“We are now complete, and ready for counting, except Anglim and Kona Komuz as these are two new LLGs within Anglimp-South Wahgi District that are still under dispute,” he said.
“Those two LLGs are yet to start polling, as I speak today. That’s the Anglim and the Kona Komuz. So, the dispute is over the creation of new wards and two LLGs, including wards that were created recently. All on dispute, and we had a meeting yesterday, Monday 3 November, with the relevant authorities but still pending feedback from the Electoral Commission’s advice on issues raised by those respective councilors and members of the community.”
PPC Asi said he would not comment further on the matter as it was under the jurisdiction of the relevant authorities.
He further reported that the election period was largely trouble-free, with no deaths or serious incidents recorded.
“So far, so good, as we have not received reports of any deaths or serious incident except a few ballot boxes reported smashed,” he said.
“One ballot box was hijacked, but it was brought back and people decided to continue with the election.”
PPC Asi also revealed that despite a lack of logistical assistance from the Provincial Administration and the Electoral Commission, police officers managed to carry out the election duties successfully.
“There was no support from the Provincial Administration and Electoral Commission, but the police officers carried out this election successfully,” he said.