7 Parties Reinstated

The Chairman of the Commission Sir Andrew Trawen presented at a conference meeting for de-registering several political parties, however these 7 political parties were given a second chance by the Commission to continue and operate as a recognised Registered Political Parties. The Chairman gave a stern warning to these political parties that if they continue to do what they have been doing, the Commission will not hesitate but to de-register them. Sir Trawen also emphasised that the main focus of the Commission and the Registry is to strengthen Political Parties in the country and that they must comply with what the Registry wants them to do. This includes; - Submitting their annual financial returns well before 31st March each year (All parts this form must be completed, and must not be hand written but typed) - Having a good structure in place - Having full time party executives and not a one man party - Must review their party policies and constitutions (many party policies and constitutions are either outdated or not relevant); and - Must recruit members into their party. The Chairman warned the seven (7) political parties that the Commission and the Registry will not be backed down on threats by the parties, it is the parties themselves who have placed their parties in this situation and the Commission and the Registry will continue to do its job without fear or favour.

Fact finding mission for SI

Port Moresby, the host city of the fifteen Pacific Games became the focal point of international attention for this occasion; quietly at the background a four man delegation from the Solomon Islands led by Calvin Ziru the Registrar of Political Parties flew into the country. The delegation included Sir Paul Tovua, Charles Ashley, Rev Philemon Riti and the Registrar of Solomon Islands Party Registry Office. The Solomon Islanders where here on a fact finding mission to see how the Papua New Guinea Registry of Political Parties run their affairs and learn from their counterparts. The party also got a first hand insight on how political parties operate with visits to party offices as well as speaking to executives of political parties. They also met with the Chairman of the Board, Sir Andrew Trawen and his board members. The team also toured the National Parliament and had the rare privilege of meeting the father of the nation, grand chief Sir Michael Somare in his National Alliance office. They also paid a courtesy call to the University of Papua New Guinea to meet and speak with the Solomon Island students there. The team had a final day with an outing at Loloata Island where gifts where exchanged. The Registrar of Political Parties, Papua New Guinea, Dr Alphonse Gelu pledged the support of his office to his counterpart and looked forward to continue this close working relations.

Solomons delegation visits PNG

The Solomon Island delegation where here in Papua New Guinea on a fact finding mission to see how the Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) has been used to bring stability in the economy as well as the politics in the country. The team comprises of the Chairman of the Commission as well as the Registrar of the Office of Political Parties in Solomons, the one week trip has been an eye opener and a learning experience for the delegation.

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Waigani Seminar 2015

Some of the prominent Papua New Guinean's with the Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare at the Waigani Seminar for Law. The Law faculty celebrated its fourty years and featured guest speakers such as Grand Chief Sir Michael, Sir Arnold Amet, Prof Wolfers, Sir John Kaputin and many more.

Tourist Ship in Alotau

As quiet as she came in, the huge tourist ship Dawn Princess berthed at the Alotau wharf on Sunday 28th June 2015 for tourist to take a tour around the town. The enourmous floating metal was a sight that caught alot of town residents espcially those that were not aware of its stop over. The spin off benefits comes in the form of local artifacts, logistics, tour guides and porters as well as fees for the government through its agent, the PNG Ports.

Concern about the lack of interest in strengthening political parties in Papua New Guinea

The Registrar of Political Parties Dr Alphonse Gelu is concern about the lack of commitment and seriousness in developing and strengthening political parties in the country. Since taking office in September 2012 he has noted that there is clearly a lack of commitment from party officials and MPs to strengthen political parties in the country.
Despite the fact that political parties emerged before independence and was part of the rise to statehood, there is no positive sign that would show that parties are part and parcel of the development of democracy in the country. Parties instead of being institutionalised into the mainstream of politics in the country have been totally negated by the leaders. They are only used during the elections and formation of governments and then are left out cold before the next election. This practice has been counterproductive to the growth of parties and as a result as led to problems such as political instability in the country and most importantly has contributed to nurturing a style of leadership that has no vision and commitment to improving the overall well-being of its citizens. There were some positive signs from people like Sir Michael Somare who publically mentioned the importance of parties in the country and what it can contribute to the development of the country. Other leaders have not made their stand known on how they see parties in the country and what they can contribute.
Do political parties matter in PNG? Definitely parties do matter in PNG. PNG is a highly heterogeneous society which means that there are many differences that we can identify in the country. Differences based on culture and custom, ethnicity, religion, etc., may be factors that gives rise to the emergence of parties that can represent the social cleavages in the country. At the same time having political parties serves that aspiration of forming a government based on groupings rather than on any other basis. These groupings thus enable the people to know who would lead them and which policies and ideas would be pursued by these groupings. In this case it makes more sense to allow parties which clear policies to govern rather than some groups that the people just don’t know what they are up to. This is an advantage of having parties in a polity therefore making parties to be more relevant to our current political settings.
Leaders must start aligning themselves to their parties and must also make contributions to the strengthening of the political parties. With the current trend in PNG politics, political parties can only be strengthened if the MPs and the Parliamentary Leaders are committed to the affairs of the parties. There is no other ways to strengthen parties in the country. Membership can also be another means to strengthening parties but at this stage, parties have not been able to clearly define their membership base so it is still a long way away for parties to rely on their membership. Dr Gelu is therefore making a strong call to the MPs and the Parliamentary Leaders to take time and attend to the affairs of their parties.
As a result of this attitude, the Registry has instituted various measures to try and strengthen political parties in the country starting with the revision of the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates. The roll out of the Learning and Development Plan for party officials is another important initiative. In this program, parties are taught to develop their party structures, develop their membership base as well as develop relevant policies that would attract votes. These changes would take time for parties to absorb but the Registry has been on the toes of party officials reminding them that it is important for them to take on board new ideas and practices that would make them to become effective political organisations. The Registry is doing what it can but it also requires support from the MPs to really strengthen the parties in the country.