FAILURE BY POLITICAL PARTIES TO RE-ENERGISE THEMSELVES AND RE-ALIGN THEIR ACTIVITIES

By Dr Alphonse Gelu

While the Registry is planning a number of activities in 2016 to promote political parties, the Registrar Dr Alphonse Gelu is still concern about the lack of interest and promise shown by some political parties. Dr Gelu is concern especially with the smaller parties who many do not have Members in Parliament. These small parties are weak on many fronts and they have been continuously reminded to re-organise themselves in order for them to contribute and participate in the discussions concerning national and international issues. They also need to “pull up their socks” when participating in forums organised by the Registry. These small parties have been the target for Dr Gelu and the Registry since 2013. The Learning and Development Workshops that the Registry has delivered to all the parties since 2013 is working for some parties while others have not learned anything and have not embraced what Dr Gelu has been reminding them about and what is important for them to enable them to function effectively. To be a real serious player in the elections and in our system of parliamentary democracy, these smaller parties as well some bigger ones who are currently in government must make sure that they have the following in place; Well drawn up party structure Have all the executives in place – President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. It is simply unthinkable to have a party without any of these executive members. Party must have an address and location for its operations Must have a updated constitution Must have updated party policies Must have membership throughout the country Must at least have some funds in place These are the most important things that all political parties must have in order for them to be competitive in the political cycle of the country. Without some or any of the above then the country would continue to have small groupings that would not have any impact on the development of the country. This is the message that Dr Gelu has been expressing since 2013.

Change in the voting system in Papua New Guinea

By Dr Alphonse Gelu

The Registry in 2015 instituted a study to look at a voting system that is friendly towards political parties. It is the interest of the Registry to do this under its mandate as stipulated by the Organic Law which is to strengthen political parties in the country. The Registry requested the National Research Institute (NRI) under the late Dr Ray Anere to lead the study. Dr Anere teamed up with a couple of resource persons from the University of Papua New Guinea, the team completed the major part of the studies. The study came to a stop after the passing of the Late Dr Anere. In 2016, the Registrar Dr Gelu decided to re-activate the study by engaging Dr Henry Okole, a political scientist by profession to complete the study. Dr Okole has far reaching knowledge and experience in the area of elections and would deliver according to the ToR. The main Terms of Reference (ToR) for the study is to look at a number of countries that are a currently using a voting system that allows the voters to cast their votes on political parties rather than candidates. The number of candidates winning under such a voting system would be determined purely on the total number of votes that the party scores in an election which would then translate into the number of seats a party wins in the Parliament. The three countries that the study looked at were New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. Fiji has the most interesting voting system where the entire country becomes the only electorate. Votes are given to parties which are then translated into seats in Parliament. The Registry aims to pay a visit to Fiji to take a close look at this system however funding is an issue. The Registry is thinking of requesting assistance from its stakeholders for assistance to enable it to look at the voting systems first

Little township of Sogeri

Little township of Sogeri some 45 minutes drive out of Port Moresby has its historic and tourism attributes thats makes it a must for Port Moresby residents to visit. Not only does it has its significants but it also is the source of water and power for the eight hundred thougsand residents. Taking a trip up to Sogeri is always a delight especially after a hectic week. The pristine blue mountain and crystal clear water running down the sloppy rough edges of the rugged cliffs along the highway always brings back the mother nature atmosphere. For this occasion it was an unexpected one as a colleague of mine wanted to drive up to visit a relative and had no one to accompany him. The roads just recently sealed and in spic conditions made driving a lot less of a hassle than it were a couple of years ago when it was marred with pot holes. The little township has changed over the years and recently the national high was given the status “school of excellence” and the infrastructure upgraded and rebuilt. The high school (Iarowari) has been fenced and is now given the secondary status. The little clinic that has served the community for many many years has had its building upgraded thanks to the "Kokoda Initiative". The road itself is in a immaculate condition .