Polye’s win set aside

Source:The National, Tuesday May 3rd, 2016

 By DEMAS TIEN 

 THE National Court has set aside Kandep MP Don Polye’s victory during the 2012 general election ‒ pending the counting of votes in five ballot boxes initially rejected.

Justice Joseph Yagi in a ruling yesterday gave 30 days to the Electoral Commission to have the five ballot boxes counted.

Luke Alfred Manase, who was the runner-up in 2012 to Polye, the current Opposition Leader, in the Kandep Open seat, had sought four orders from the court including the recounting of votes in the five boxes.

Three were earlier in favour of Polye.

Yagi ordered yesterday that the candidate scoring the absolute majority after the counting of votes in the five boxes would be declared the Kandep MP.

The five boxes rejected were from the polling stations at Lungutenges No 1, Kombros No 1, Kambia No 1, Maru and Imipiaka in Kandep. 

Manase named Polye as the first respondent and the Electoral Commission as the second.

He disputed the election of Polye, questioning the conduct of election officials during the counting of votes.

The substance of the complaint by Manase in the petition was related to allegations of errors and omissions by the officers, servants and agents of the Electoral Commission. 

The court was satisfied with one of the grounds raised by Manase in his petition relating to the five boxes which were rejected. The votes in the five boxes were not scrutinised and counted. The other three grounds were dismissed because the court was not satisfied that the allegations stated in the grounds had been sufficiently proven.

Meanwhile, Polye said yesterday in response to the court ruling that he was the victim of an error made by the returning officer for the Kandep Open seat.

Polye said he had won the seat by a big margin but this had been set aside because of an error by the Electoral Commission and its agents.

“I am just a victim of an error by the Returning Officer,” Polye said.

Related Posts

Court-order-costly

Poll-officials-to-face-probe

Polyes-vote-sums-dont-add

Court order costly

Source: The National, Wednesday May 4th, 2016

By MALUM NALU

 

ELECTORAL Commissioner Patilias Gamato says it will cost about K850,000 to count the five disputed ballot boxes for the Kandep Open seat in Enga, as ordered by the National Court on Monday.

He said the five boxes contained 3248 ballot papers were from the Lungutenges No 1 (479), Kombros No 1 (635), Kambia No 1 (520), Maru (772) and Imipiaka (842) polling stations. They were excluded by election officials from the counting process during the 2012 general election. 

Don Polye won the seat with 23,952 votes. Luke Alfred Manase, the petitioner, was second with 11,418 votes.

Gamato told The National last night that Polye was no longer the Kandep MP. A new declaration of the winner will be made after the counting of the five boxes.

Gamato said the K850,000 was the figure reached following a consultation with his management team, “in case the five boxes changed the absolute majority and we go into the elimination process”.

“It means we have to count all eliminations until we find the winner. Once we start counting the five boxes, we cannot stop and go back to ask the Government to give us (more) money,” he said.

“They have to make money available at the first instance so when we start, we flow. We may not use the full K850,000.”

He said figure included costs for the petitioner as ordered by court, plus the lawyer representing the commission.

Justice Joseph Yagi ordered on Monday to have the five boxes counted, as one of the four orders sought by Manase in the petition. Three were ruled in favour of Polye. 

Gamato said the five boxes would be brought from Wabag and the counting done at the commission headquarters in Waigani within the 30 days as ordered by the court.

Gamato will write to Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari and Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan to secure the funding.

In 2012, Polye was declared winner of the Kandep seat on primary votes because the total votes he polled after the last count reached the absolute majority required under the LPV system.

The total allowable ballot papers was 47,713 and the absolute majority was 23,858. 

Meanwhile, he said the commission had only received K600,000 out of the K2.5 million allocated for the Samarai-Murua by-election in Milne Bay.

Related Posts

Polyes-vote-sums-dont-add

Poll-officials-to-face-probe

Poll officials to face probe

Source: The National, Thursday May 5th, 2016

 By MALUM NALU

THE election manager and returning officer for the Kandep Open seat in Enga during the 2012 general election will be referred to police to be investigated over alleged corruption, an official says.

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato told The National that he wrote to Police Commissioner Gari Baki yesterday to have election manager Henry Kyakas and returning officer Naepet Keae investigated.

Kyakas is employed by the commission while Keae is employed by the Enga provincial administration.

The National Court on Monday set aside Kandep MP Don Polye’s victory during the 2012 general election pending the counting of five ballot boxes which were initially rejected by election officials. The five boxes rejected were from the polling stations at Lungutenges No. 1, Kombros No. 1, Kambia No. 1, Maru and Imipiaka in Kandep.

The substance of the complaint by petitioner Luke Alfred Manase was related to allegations of errors and omissions by the officers, servants and agents of the Electoral Commission.

Gamato said the electoral processes were not followed in the Kandep election.

He said it was important that election managers and returning officers avoid corrupt practices during the election process.

Gamato said the court on Monday concluded that there was a lot of “foul play” involved.

“What the judgement and the court order said was that there was a lot of foul play,” he said.

“The evidence the petitioner (Manase) and his supporters gave was strong and based on that the judge made a ruling. We at the Electoral Commission must be strong in upholding the Constitution and the laws that govern elections.”

Polye won the seat with 23,952 votes.

Related Post

Polye's Vote Sums Don't Add- June 2012

Ruling on governor’s seat deferred

Source: The National, Thursday May 5th, 2016

A NATIONAL Court has deferred the decision regarding the dispute over the position of Hela governor between Anderson Agiru and Komo-Margarima MP Francis Potape.
Justice Ere Kariko instructed the court registry yesterday to defer the decision, which was supposed to be handed down yesterday, because of the death of Agiru last Thursday.
Kariko’s associate Alesana Babona told The National that the decision was postponed because of the death.
Agiru’s lawyer Goiye Gileng, from Posman Kua Aisi Lawyers, said that the court was expected to hand down the decision after the mourning period. He said there was no specific date set.
Lawyers representing Agiru and Potape and the eight members of the provincial assembly had made their submissions on March 31.
Meanwhile, Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said a date for a possible by-election for the Hela Governor’s seat would be considered after a month in respect of Agiru.
He said yesterday that as a mark of respect for Agiru, who became governor of the new Hela province in 2012, a one-month period would be allowed.
“I would like to wait until the mourning is formally ended before I make a statement,” Gamato said.

Basil takes over as Opposition leader

Source: The National, Thursday May 5th, 2016

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK 

PANGU Party leader Sam Basil is the new Opposition leader.

He takes over from Triumph Heritage Party leader Don Polye after the National Court suspended Polye as the Kandep MP over uncounted votes in five ballot boxes in the 2012 general elections.

Polye, in handing over the position to his deputy and Bulolo MP Basil yesterday, said he stepped down from Parliament by respecting the law.

“Although I disagree with the court ruling, we need to set an example to our people – and to the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and Police Commissioner Gari Baki about respect for the law. 

“So, I therefore accept my 30 days suspension from Parliament. I wish, for the sake of our country, PNG, and its people, that O’Neill would similarly subject himself to the decision of courts and a Leadership Tribunal in order to prove his innocence or the courts to prove his guilt.”

Basil said that he would lead 11 Opposition MPs to provide an effective Opposition against the Government on issues that the Opposition believed were not best for PNG. “I also call on other MPs implicated in cases before the courts, and some of them are still operating as MPs under court orders and not respecting the courts,” Basil said. 

“I believe that what Polye has done today, we must see as an example to follow, particular O’Neill and his government and his ministers. 

“They are not following the law and not respecting court orders,” he said.

“They are also using the courts to prolong their stay.”