THE Commonwealth Observer Group to Papua New Guinea’s 2022 General Election expressed their concern on the country’s voting process.
The Chairperson of the Group, His Excellency Baron Waqa, in an Interim Statement said the 2022 rolls were missing a large number of names.
“In some cases, as many as 50 per cent of the eligible voters were reportedly not on the rolls.
“There was widespread public dissatisfaction with the accuracy of the common roll.
“We are concerned that this could have disenfranchised high numbers of eligible voters,” he said.
Waqa also pointed out that the highly centralized structure of the Electoral Commission was one of the key issues of concern that they observed during the election.
The Group advised all relevant stakeholders to collaborate in undertaking an urgent review of the 2022 election and they also called for immediate reforms to strengthen voter registration including the introduction of continuous voter registration and capacity building at all levels.
“Reform the Electoral Commission to create a collaborative and decentralized structure that would ensure accountability and transparency and the effective delivery of elections, in line with good international practice,” said Waqa.
Above all, the Group commended Papua New Guinea for conducting its ninth election notwithstanding the institutional challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
