STANLEY LIRIA
THE results coming from the election counting in Ialibu-Pangia are farcical, bearing no semblance to reality and marking a very sad time for PNG.
My team ran a clean campaign, and I instructed my people to always walk away from any kind of violent confrontation.
After all, it is only though respecting the rule of law and mutual respect for one another that we can truly progress as a nation.
Had I not witnessed it first hand, I would never have believed the sheer scale, collaboration and execution of election rigging.
Numerous petitions and objections were raised with the returning officer but, for much of the count, scrutineers’ disputes were dismissed without proper explanation.
Just yesterday, five loyal members of my team were badly assaulted for no reason by O’Neill’s thugs, punctuating an election that has seen a gross denial of my people’s democratic right to change their elected leader.
I will continue to fight the constitutional breaches through the Supreme Court regarding voting on a Sunday and, given the raft of evidence of impropriety I and others have gathered, I will immediately contest the declaration of the poll.
As a lawyer, I have faith in the integrity and independence of the judiciary and I believe a by-election is imminent for Ialibu-Pangia. It is my true belief that justice will prevail if given the chance.
Elsewhere, it is obvious that the People’s National Congress is definitely on the back foot and being overtaken in many seats, especially by the National Alliance which, based on the trends we are seeing in counting so far, looks most likely to form a new government.
I have been denied my own chance at a fair election in Ialibu-Pangia, and forced to take my fight to the courts where the evidence will speak for itself.
In the meantime, my team can be proud that they have absorbed the repeated attacks by O’Neill’s thugs and, in doing so, allowed other regions to be safer from his grip of intimidation and corruption at the ballot box.
I now call for all other elected members to stay united in relegating PNC to the opposition, so that the institutions of government can be restored, and so that people can do their work without fear of favour, creating a fair and just PNG for all.
We will prevail.