PNG voting starts amid cash handouts

22 Jun 2012, 7:17 pm   -   Source: AAP

Voting in Papua New Guinea's national election starts on Saturday as observers report large cash handouts by politicians trying to buy votes.

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Papua New Guineans are expected to begin voting on Saturday in the eighth national election as observers warn that money politics is being played on a level not seen before.

In a nation where cash handouts at election time are widespread, observers say the cost for first-preference votes has increased by as much as 30-fold.

"In some areas the going rate for a first-preference vote is 1000 kina (approximately $A500), and other areas in the highlands it's as much as 3000 kina for a first-preference vote," said Nicole Hayley, leader of the Domestic Election Observers group.

"So these are much larger sums of money."

Dr Hayley, an Australian National University specialist in Melanesian affairs, is in PNG observing her fourth national election.

In the 2007 election, first-preference votes were being bought for 100 kina.

But reports coming in from the 21 provinces being visited by the 200-strong team of domestic election observers shows not only that the money figure has increased but also that the method has changed.

"This time our observers are seeing larger sums of money being transferred," Dr Hayley said.

"Our team in Enga has reported that certainly one of the sitting members (of parliament) has been handing out debit cards with 3000 kina in the account.

"Clearly this election is much more competitive and people are crediting that to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The stakes are much higher."

PNG's massive ExxonMobil-led LNG project is expected to double the nation's GDP when it is due to go online next year.

Tari, a town at the heart of the project and located in the newly established Hela province in the PNG highlands, had a failed election in 2002 and was placed on the government's administration for 10 months.

Last week the local election steering committee voted to delay polling in Tari until Monday, arguing that Seventh Day Adventists - a large religious group in PNG - are prohibited from voting on Saturdays.

However, a strong police and military presence on the ground indicated polling would proceed as scheduled.

An incomplete and poorly managed electoral roll made voter fraud all but inevitable in the region.

Sighting the potential for election fraud in the highlands, the PNG government of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill voted early this year to delay the national election by six months, a move that caused massive public outcry.

Mr O'Neill bowed to public pressure and acknowledged his government did not have the power to order the delay.

More than four million Papua New Guineans are expected to vote at 10,000 polling stations over the next two weeks while final results are not expected until the end of July.

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