PHIL FITZPATRICK
IT’S hard to know what’s been going on with this election.
We can read all sorts of ulterior motives and devious plots into what has been reported to date but is it any different to what has happened in previous elections? I don’t think so.
The current conspiracy theories are heavy on attempts by O’Neill’s People’s National Congress to game the outcome of the election and even to set it up for failure.
Quite frankly I don’t think he’s got the nous, the wherewithal or the political skills to do that.
My impression at the moment is that the election is suffering the same old Papua New Guinean style chaos and inefficiency.
I was in Papua New Guinea during the last four elections and what has happened this time round in terms of chaos, inefficiency, vote buying, ballot irregularity and the rest doesn’t seem to be that much different.
What is different, however, is the widespread reporting by social media of problems and rorting. This has considerably magnified the same old problems and made them seem much worse this time around.
People are now understandably alarmed but if they’d known about the conduct of those previous elections they would have been equally shocked.
The impact of social media on the election is similar to what has happened with public perceptions of the O’Neill government over the last few years.
I’m not sure that his government has been any more corrupt or inept than previous governments.
Somare’s regime was probably just as bad. Given the rapid decline in the resources sector I’m sure the Grand Chief would have stuffed up just like O’Neill.
However, unlike Somare, O’Neill has had social media constantly looking over his shoulder.
Strangely enough, and despite his attempts to stifle it, I’m not sure he realises the real impact it has had on his credibility.
But before I make any further excuses for him, let’s look at what else has been different this time round. This can be summarised in one word – Manus.
In previous elections, Papua New Guinea has always been aware that big brother, in the form of Australia, has been keenly watching what it does.
Not this time however.
This time Australia has simply turned around and looked the other way. Why? Because it needs Manus for a while yet and doesn’t want to do anything to upset the current arrangement.
Whether O’Neill has taken advantage of this is a moot point. I personally don’t think he has had the guile to play it for all it was worth.
One thing is certain though.
While I don’t think O’Neill has deliberately gamed the election, as some people think, he is not the politician to drag Papua New Guinea out of its current fiscal and social woes.
Someone else with the necessary smarts is required to fix that mess.
Whether this happens is anyone’s guess.