By GINNAH MINI
COMMISSIONER of Police David Manning has urged Provincial Police Commanders (PPCs), deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, border commanders, and other senior police officers to bring their expertise, skills, knowledge, and leadership to ensure effective security for the 2027 National General Election (NGE).
Speaking at the NGE 2027 preparatory planning meeting, Commissioner Manning told police leaders that their election plans, including provincial and supplementary plans, must be as comprehensive and effective as possible.
“Election planning, election deployments, and managing units during elections are nothing new,” Commissioner Manning said.
“Next year is not the time to be an inexperienced officer on the ground. You need to bring your expertise, skills, knowledge, and leadership to the forefront.”
Commissioner Manning reminded the police bosses that there will be challenges during the election in terms of the risk as well.
“I need to remind you all that one bad decision by any of you in this room can have catastrophic results,” Commissioner Manning said.
Mr. Manning noted that the police will have PNG’s bilateral partners on standby to assist them if there are gaps in resources from the national government during the election period.
“One thing that we need to be completely aware of and unwilling to compromise on is our leadership during this time,” Commissioner Manning said.
Mr. Manning said the Ombudsman Commission would tell senior police officers during the week, as the workshop continues, that they would face court under his leadership if they failed to demonstrate accountability and leadership.
“This is our response: we are not afraid of, nor do we shy away from, accountability,” he said.
“It is something we are demonstrating to the rest of the country and to those who allege that we are corrupt or that we determine election outcomes. We are not.”
The Commissioner urged the police bosses to work together as for a successful election despite that 2027 NGE is going to be a challenging one.
The week long NGE 2027 preparatory planning meeting will bring discussions about expectations that the police needed
to be understood, issues and challenges that needed to be addressed and how the police will work together to eliminate risks during the election period.