By FRANCIS RODNEY PULU
THREE (3) election petitioners who have been challenging the election victory of John Kaupa as MP for Moresby North-East through the Court of Disputed Returns will seek judicial recount.
Brendan Lai, a Council representing the petitioners; Alfred Andapanga, Diane Unagi and Peter Dominic made this known on Friday.
Mr. Lai said they will be seeking to file for a judicial recount after the journals and forms 66 A and B required to be tendered before the courts were not found in the four specified containers at the Sir Guise Stadium in Port Moresby.
He said on several occasions, the court directed the Electoral Commission (EC) to tender the documents before the courts but they (EC) failed to do so.
As such a court order was taken against EC for the containers to be opened and for the documents to be retrieved and exhibited before the courts when the matter resumes for trial in June.
According to Lai, the court order was taken on December 29 last year.
The opening of the sealed and welded containers took place in the presence of the NCD Election Manager (EM), Kila Ralai, Returning Officer (RO) for MNE, Billy George and Police personnel who were on the ground to witness the occasion.
Lai said the reasons why they needed the journals was to confirm whether both allegations are true or not.
“It is up to EC to provide those documents and if they don’t it will assist our clients case about the outcome of the election being doubtful and therefore the court has to intervene and look at it closely,” he said.
Lai added that originally the journals should be in the main office and not in the containers because the only thing that should be in the containers should be the ballot boxes and the ballot papers.
Andapanga, who was the second runner up explained that they have gone to the courts asking the courts and EC to provide the electoral records which are form 66 A and B journals.
However, Mr. Andapanga said EC have maintained saying “they don’t have the records and at end they said all documents are locked up in the containers”.
“And now we went to the extreme of getting a court order to open the containers but the documents are not here. Now the EM and the RO continue to say that the records must be at the regional counting area or the headquarters.
The have misled the court and therefore we will go to the court and file an affidavit mentioning that files were not here,” he said.
Andapanga also clarified that any records EC provides after today (Friday) will not be accepted because if it was at the headquarters, they would have been made available earlier.
“So, we will file an affidavit that they are falsified and fraud records,” he said.
Dominic shared similar sediments and said if the documents were not there than the blame and fault goes to those that conducted the elections.
“These are very important documents because they must bear in mind that in any declarations, there will be court of dispute and so on and their responsibility is to safeguard and put them properly. When things like this happens, it is easy to locate and produce,” he said.
Dominic added that it was disappointing to see the EM and the RO not really sure what was inside the containers.
Unagi also said the way they were trying to locate the documents showed how the whole election was run.
“When I saw this the first point that came to me was incompetent and I am shocked by the level of incompetence of filing away the journals. And there is nothing hard about that.
As soon as the journals are provided, put them orderly in the box and store them away,” she expressed.
Unagi said the EC is a mandated body that should run elections effectively and efficiently.
The journals keep accurate record of every single incident or activity during polling periods.
