By GINNAH MINI
THE Country Director for International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Michael Yard, said that funding for Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission (PNGEC) and Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) is important for adequate electoral security for the 2027 National General Election.
Speaking at the ‘Joint Security workshop for 2027 NGE’, Mr. Yard, said that with experience of working in elections in more than 50 countries, he noted that elections in PNG always involve violence.
He noted that planning along is not going to prevent election violence.
“One of the patterns that we saw in the LLG elections was that the police were underfunded and did not have an adequate presence in many of the provinces,” Mr. Yard said.
He said that EC was also underfunded and didn’t have enough staff to manage and control everything.
“Funding for both institutions is critical, and no matter how much planning the institutions did, if they don’t have the funding, then it’s impossible to provide adequate electoral security,” he said.
The Acting Electoral Commissioner, Margaret Vagi, noted that the Highlands and Momase Regions have some high-risk areas in terms of election violence and through the collaboration of PNGEC and Royal Papua New Guinea (RPNGC) they can find effective ways to mitigate election-related violence.
Mrs. Vagi said that this is the first time in 10 years that the two institutions are having a coordination meeting regarding the security.
She added that despite the funding, with collaborative efforts from these two institutions, they can work together to address issues in these two regions-whether the issue be remoteness of wards and LLGs.