Politician’s action, statement immature says Mendi candidate

Source: The National, Tuesday 17th July, 2012

NIPA-KUTUBU candidate Pesab Jefferey Komal has condemned the actions of sitting member Philemon Embel in Mendi town last Thursday.
Komal expressed great concern at Embel’s claims at a mini-rally at the provincial offices while presenting a petition against irregularities in the progressive count of the seat.
“The sitting member claimed that he would have been leading by 25,000 votes. That is why he is saying something is wrong with the count. He is a senior statesman and these are very immature statements,” Komal said.
“If he believes he has delivered, he should be satisfied that he has done enough to be returned by the people. The people have spoken through the ballots, so just let the process go through until declarations.
“If he is unsatisfied, he can challenge after.”
Komal said it was still too early, with quality checks yet to be done and counting still incomplete.
Leading the count with 15 boxes left as of last Friday morning, Komal’s concerns were further strengthened by a clarification made by Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen last  Thursday.
“Recounts are provided for only after the primary count has been completed,” Trawen said.
“Recounts cannot be considered when counting of primary votes is in progress.”
Trawen said recounts were done after quali­ty checks had been carried out.
Claims of count irregularities have culminated in candidates trying to stop counting.
Most issues have been with polling officials, who were officially endorsed by returning officer, David Warkias

Polye wants planning to go under new regime

Source: The Nationa, Monday July 16th, 2012

THE Department of National Planning will be abolished and its functions transferred to the prime minister if Don Polye heads the next government.
The transfer of responsibilities to the office of the country’s chief executive officer would include that of rural development, implementation and monitoring.
“That will mean managing the country as a corporate entity, not through the eye of a political institution,” Polye said yesterday.
The transfer was necessary because “the prime minister has to work and be actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of policies to guide the country’s development framework,” he said.
“The prime minister cannot sit down and relax and expect these important development functions to be done by somebody else as is the case now.
“Papua New Guinea is not like Australia or any other developed nation for that matter. The prime minister has to work, and he has to work hard and do so with his heart.”
Polye was declared Kandep MP on primary counts last Friday at the Wabag Primary School, securing 23,678 votes after count 67. Nearest rival Alfred Manase scored about 12,000 votes behind on 11,318 while Sakias Yamalo Tomao was third, collecting 3,066.
The Kandep MP is the parliamentary leader of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment (T.H.E) Party. This will be his third term in parliament.
When thanking his Kandep people for having the confidence and allowing him to lead them for another term, Polye said he had the experience, skills and the knowledge to head the next government as prime minister.
“I have been on the job learning to become prime minister in the last 10 years with a
strong and quality leadership
that PNG so desires.”
With yesterday’s declaration of Douglas Tomuriesa as member for Kirriwina-Goodenough, and the lead held by eight other T.H.E Party candidates throughout the country, Polye said the progressive results were encouraging. And, he was confident of forming government after the numbers game begins at the end of this month.
He also appealed to all candidates not to disrupt the work of the Electoral Commission but to accept defeat.
“All political parties, their leaders, candidates and supporters must not interfere with the polling process.
“The integrity and credibility of the counting process must be upheld and the rule of law maintained,” Polye said.
He also called on all candidates to respect the constitutional functions of the Electoral Commission and the security forces.
Polye was declared by the district returning officer, Naipet Keae, after securing an absolute majority of 50%-plus-one vote with five ballot boxes yet to be counted.
Soon after signing his declaration papers at the Wabag Primary School, Polye reaffirmed his intention to be Enga’s first prime minister.
It is understood that legal opinions were being sought on Polye’s declaration.

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17th July 2012

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Polye condemns report

Source: Poste Courier, Monday 09 July 2012
By RAMCY WAMA

Don Pomb Polye, the leader of the Triumph Heritage Party and Minister for Finance and Treasury had nothing to do with the killing of a presiding officer in Enga.
Mr Polye said yesterday that as a leader of the people of Kandep and leader of one of the biggest political parties, he could not be involved in the murder of another person and he found the report in the Sunday Chronicles newspaper yesterday as misleading and defamatory.
“The newspaper is involved in smear campaign against me for whatever reason, only known to the editor and the reporter. The newspaper did not check the facts properly and went ahead a published a story that contained a lot of inaccuracies that has damaged my reputation as a leader,” Mr Polye told Post Courier last night
Mr Polye was responding to a report in Sunday Chronicles newspaper yesterday in which he was blamed for the killing of the presiding officer and other election related violence in Kandep and in Enga.
“I’m the leader of the people of Kandep who is currently leading one of the biggest party in government. I cannot come down and act like a mindless person to instigate all these troubles, fights, violence, or killings in my electorate and my province.
I have earn my place as a leader the hard way and not by chance, opportunity or on a golden plate. I am a leader and I cannot do such horrible things to my people,” he said.
Mr Polye said the reports in the Sunday Chronicles front page was totally false and misleading the people of Kandep, Enga and Papua New Guinea.
“The story printed on the front page of the Sunday Chronicles painted a bad picture on me, my leadership, my political career and my public life. It (story) makes me look like a careless leader, a instigator of violence and a warlord.
“The report is false and I condemned it outright. The people who have instigated the violence are now cunningly shifting blame on me through conveniently collaborating with the media. I ask the other candidates who contested against me to come out clear and tell the truth,” he said.
Mr Polye said if the newspaper had checked its facts, he would find that the people who are held in police custody over the killing are not my supporters or my people

Polye denies inciting trouble resulting in death

The National, Monday July 9th, 2012

KANDEP MP Don Polye has strongly denied that he had incited trouble resulting in the death of a presiding officer in the electorate in Enga province.
He told the media in Mt Hagen yesterday that he was not responsible for the death as reported in a newspaper yesterday.
He condemned the killing in the strongest terms and called on the police and security personnel to have those responsible arrested and charged.
Polye said three rival candidates were trying to discredit him in the media in his run for the prime ministership.
He said the candidates knew that the people had rejected them and therefore instigating problems resulting in the attacks.
Polye claimed the candidates had made certain demands to the Electoral Commission and security personnel but these were rejected. They then directed their frustration on the people.
He said the killing took the number of people killed in election-related trouble in Enga to five. Four of them were his relatives.
He said as a leader, he always talked about peace, unity and good order in the district, province and country.
Polye said it had been a public fight involving scrutineers of 60 candidates from Kandep and other people outside the gate trying to get into the counting room

Officer killed, another hurt

Source: The National, Monday July 9th, 2012

By JAMES APA GUMUNO

A GENERAL election presiding officer is dead and another seriously hurt after they were attacked in Kandep district, Enga province, on Saturday.
Dead is John Kepa, 57, from Longap village. Daniel Arup, 50, from Malai village,
is in serious condition at Wabag hospital from
the bush-knife attack.
The two men are from the Wage local level government area in Kandep district.
Provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari said yesterday supporters of a party parliamentary leader attacked the two presiding officers, who were supporters of another candidate outside the gate of the counting centre at Wabag Primary School around 7am.
They had been waiting with other presiding officers to go into the counting centre.
Lakari said the two men were rushed to Wabag hospital but one died on arrival.
Lakari said this was believed to be a payback killing for another election-related killing two weeks ago when a candidate’s supporters allegedly shot a man and his wife at Wasa Bridge, in Kandep, and threw their bodies into the Lai River.
They then stabbed a young man to death in Wabag town last Monday. He said police intervened quickly and arrested the two prime suspects.
He said the suspects had been detained for questioning and their vehicle was impounded at the police station.
Lakari appealed to candidates from Kandep to control their supporters.
He said they had destroyed the image of Wabag town and Enga province with their senseless killings