Election 2007 Election 2007 The Shift to Limited Preferential The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea New in Papua Voting The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea Edited by R J May, Ray Anere, Nicole Haley & Katherine Wheen Papua New Guinea’s general election in 2007 attracted partic- ular interest for several reasons. Not only did it follow what was widely acknowledged as the country’s worst election ever, in 2002 (in which elections in six of the country’s 109 electorates were declared to be ‘failed elections’), it was the first general election to be held under a new limited preferential voting (LPV) system; it also followed the first full parliamentary term under the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates, which had been introduced in 2001 in an attempt to strengthen political parties and create a greater degree of sta- bility in the National Parliament, and was the first to embrace a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to electoral administration, through an Inter-departmental Election Committee. This volume provides an analysis of the 2007 election, which draws on the work of a Domestic Monitoring Team organized through the National Research Institute, and several visit- ing scholars. It addresses key issues such as voter education, electoral administration, election security, the role of political parties, women as candidates and voters, the shift to LPV, and HIV transmission, and provides more detailed accounts of the election in a number of open and provincial electorates. It is generally agreed that the election of 2007 was an im- provement on that of 2002. But problems of electoral admin- istration and voting behaviour remain. These are identified in the volume, and recommendations made for electoral reform. ELECTION 2007 The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea ELECTION 2007 The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea Edited by R.J. May Ray Anere Nicole Haley Katherine Wheen The National Research Institute and The State Society and Governance in Melanesia Program iv First published in July 2011. Copyright © 2011 the National Research Institute and the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program. The NRI is an independent statutory authority established by an Act of Parliament in 1988 and confirmed by the IASER (Amendment) Act 1993. NRI’s main aims are to undertake research into the social, political, economic, educational, legal, environmental, and cultural issues and problems of Papua New Guinea and to formulate practical policy solutions. The State, Society & Governance in Melanesia Program (SSGM) is an Australian National University centre for interdisciplinary and policy-relevant research on governance, development and state-society relations in Melanesia and the wider Pacific Islands. In Papua New Guinea, direct any inquiries regarding publications to: National Research Institute Tel: (675) 326 0300/326 0061 ext. 338 Fax: (675) 326 0213 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nri.org.pg ISBN 9980 75 194 0 National Library Service of Papua New Guinea ABCDE 20143210 Cover design by Christopher Gaul. The opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the National Research Institute, the State Society and Governance in Melanesia Program, or the institutions to which the authors are affiliated. v CONTENTS FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii CONTRIBUTORS ix PART 1: ISSUES 1 An overview of the 2007 election in Papua New Guinea 1 Andrew S. Trawen MBE, Chief Electoral Commissioner 2 IDEC: the 2007 general election through a whole-of-government approach 7 Paul B.B. Bengo 3 Background to the 2007 election: political developments 9 R.J. May and Ray Anere 4 The voter education program: growing a demand for good governance 33 Susan Ferguson 5 Electoral administration 55 Nicole Haley 6 Security in Southern Highlands Province 75 Siale Diro 7 Policing the elections in Chimbu Province 81 Thomson Fafungian 8 Conducting and securing elections in a high risk setting: the Koroba-Lake Kopiago experience 99 Chris Kenny and Nicole Haley 9 Political parties and the 2007 national election: alignment to reform? 113 Alphonse Gelu 10 Women as candidates and voters: gender issues and the Kerema Open electorate 129 Orovu Sepoe 11 The Kup Women for Peace: a localised and innovative approach to free, fair and peaceful elections 143 Rachael Hinton, Michelle Kopi, Angela Apa, Agnes Sil, Mary Kini, Jerry Kai, Yanny Guman and Daniell Cowley 12 The context of HIV transmission during the 2007 election in Enga Province 157 Philip Gibbs and Marie Mondu 13 Assessing the shift to limited preferential voting 177 R.J. May, Katherine Wheen and Nicole Haley vi PART 2: ELECTORATES 14 The Abau Open electorate: a second go at LPV 193 Ray Anere 15 The Ijivitari Open electorate: women’s participation as candidates and voters 211 Dixon Susub 16 Communication, logistics and inter-agency partnerships in the Eastern Highlands Provincial electorate 227 Michael Unage 17 The election in Chuave Open electorate 243 William Steven Gari Kaupa 18 LPV in Enga: the Wabag Open electorate 261 Philip Gibbs 19 Religion, politics and the election in the Southern Highlands 285 Richard Eves 20 Guns, money and sex: assessing the impact of electoral system reform on political culture in Southern Highlands Province 307 Nicole Haley and Ben Dierikx 21 Results at any cost? The legacy of 2002 in Koroba-Lake Kopiago Open electorate 323 Nicole Haley 22 Elections and corruption: the ‘highlandization’ of voting in the Madang Open and Provincial electorates 357 Patrick Matbob 23 What is holding them back? Reflections on one woman’s loss at the polls: Usino-Bundi Open 375 Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi 24 Organization takes the spoils: the election in Yangoru-Saussia 393 Leo Yat Paol and Patrick Gesch 25 The return of the Chief: East Sepik Provincial 409 R.J. May 26 Political parties and the election in Gazelle 425 Elly B. Kinkin 27 Between eagles and flying foxes: elections for the Manus Provincial and Open seats 441 Steffen Dalsgaard 28 Looking to 2012: lessons from 2007 and arising issues 465 Ray Anere and Katherine Wheen APPENDIX RESULTS OF THE 2007 ELECTION 475 vii FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Every general election in Papua New Guinea, since 1964, has been the subject of a comprehensive collaborative study by Papua New Guinean and foreign scholars. And every study (with the exception, to date, of 2002) has been published. This volume continues a longstanding tradition. The election of 2007, however, generated particular interest: not only did it follow what has been described as Papua New Guinea’s worst election ever, in 2002 (in which elections in six of the country’s 109 electorates were declared to be ‘failed elections’), it was the first general election to be held under a new limited preferential voting (LPV) system; it also followed the first full parliamentary term under the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates, which had been introduced in 2001 in an attempt to strengthen political parties and create a greater degree of stability in the National Parliament, and was the first to embrace a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to electoral administration, through the Inter-departmental Election Committee. Moves to set up a coordinated study of the 2007 election were initiated within the National Research Institute in 2005. Subsequently, the Registrar of Political Parties requested a Domestic Observation of the election by Papua New Guinean scholars and civil society organizations, and the AusAID-funded Electoral Support Program (ESP) also commissioned a monitoring of the election. These three initiatives converged. An ESP-funded Domestic Observation was organized through the National Research Institute, under the joint leadership of Dr Ray Anere of the National Research Institute and Dr Nicole Haley of the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program of the Australian National University, focusing on the administration and outcome of the election. The report of the Domestic Observation was submitted to the Inter- departmental Election Committee, and to the ESP, in 2008 and was published by the National Research Institute in 2009. This volume draws heavily from the Domestic Observation (a number of whose team leaders have contributed chapters to this volume), but attempts, like the studies of earlier Papua New Guinea elections, to look at broader issue of electoral politics at both the national level and within selected electorates. As always, the tasks of pulling together a number of contributors and obtaining accurate electoral data have not been easy (as at May 2011 results were still not available for all electorates and the Electoral Commissioner’s report had not been tabled in parliament). This is reflected in the time it has taken to achieve publication. We are indebted to those who have facilitated the study and its publication; in particular we acknowledge the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission viii (PNGEC), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Inter-departmental Election Committee (IDEC), and the Electoral Support Program Phase 2 (ESP2). We take this opportunity to thank the authors of the chapters, especially Mr Andrew Trawen, Chief Electoral Commissioner and Mr Paul Bengo, formally the Chair of the IDEC. We thank certain individuals who have been instrumental to the publication of this volume: Dr Bill Standish, Dr Thomas Webster, Dr Musawe Sinebare, John Kalamorah, Sue Rider, Jim Robins, Tracy Harwood, Jenny Parina and Siling Geatulu. ix CONTRIBUTORS Ray Anere is a senior research fellow in the Institutions Strengthening Pillar (formerly Political and Legal Studies Division) with the National Research Institute. He was co-leader of the 2007 Election Domestic Observation Team. Angela Apa was, at the time of writing, a member of Kup Women for Peace, Kup subdistrict, Chimbu Province. Paul Bengo is the chief of staff in the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council.