Justifications for the changes in the Revised Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates

By Dr Alphonse Gelu
In the last article I presented the proposed Constitutional Amendments and the changes contained in the Revised OLIPPAC. In this article I will look at the justifications for these proposed changes. The justifications are brief and will come under each of the changes.

The purpose of this article is to show why these proposed changes are necessary.

 I will first present the justifications for the proposed Constitutional amendments and will be followed with the proposed changes in the Revised OLIPPAC.

The first are the relevant constitutional provisions for amendment, alteration and repealing;

1. Freedom of Assembly and Association (Amendment of Section 47)In this proposed amendment, political parties are to impose reasonable restrictions on members of political parties. Members make up the party, therefore the party can impose some restrictions on their members. This is like any other organisations or associations that have their own rules that they impose on their members.
2. Voting in the Parliament (Amendment of Section 114)The proposed amendment to Section 114 is to subsection 6 and subsection 7 which states that voting in Parliament shall be in accordance with the party resolution. This is important as it allow members of parties to vote togather as a group based on the resolutions reached by the party based on the majority principle.
3. Parliamentary Privileges, etc., (Amendment of Section 115)The proposed amendment is to allow for freedom of speech, debate, voting in Parliament by MPs and shall not be questioned in any court of law.
4. Purpose of Subdivision H (Amendment of Section 127).The proposed amendment is to allow for rules of registration, monitoring and management of political parties, conduct of executives of political parties, discipline members of political parties and fines on political parties and executives.
5. Repeal and replacement of Section 128.This proposed amendment is to clearly define what a political party is.

The proposed changes to the provisions contained in the Revised Organic Law are as follows;

1. Section 25 (4) says that a political party must nominate 20% of the total number of candidates nominated by the party as women candidates. This proposed change is to make political parties to be more democratic/inclusive by allowing women to be members and candidates. This proposed change does not give women an upper hand over the male candidates. It only makes political parties to have 20% of its endorsed candidates to be women. Women will contest the election just like any other candidate.
2.   Section 27 (7) says that Political parties must submit their membership listing to the Registry and the Registry will check and monitor the membership every two years.This proposed change is to ensure that political parties must have members throughout the country. Parties are supposed to grow from the grassroots upwards and not top-down as the case is now. It is unthinkable to have parties without membership in the country. The Registry will be given the power to check on the membership every 2 years to ensure that the parties still have members.
3. Section 28 (6) says that party executives who are unsuccessful in a national election and intend to hold a position as a party executive must comply with their party constitution on their reappointment. Many party executives who hold the positions of Presidents, Treasurers and General Secretaries contest elections. In the process after the elections, many resume these positions without complying with the constitutions of their respective parties which calls for the election of the party executives. The party executives do not own the party as the case is now but the members therefore seeking leadership roles must be decided by the members during the party convention. Executives must not walk out and walk in at their own will.
4. Section 28 (7) says that Salaries, allowances and other terms of conditions will be determined by the Registrar in consultation with the Salaries, Conditions and Monitoring Committee (SCMC).The terms and conditions of the Presidents, Treasurers and General Secretaries is one area that needs tightening. These executives are remunerated by the State. However their condition of employment is not guided by any legal or administrative framework. The proposed change is to allow the Registrar to have the powers to determine their conditions of employment under the framework of the SCMC.
5. Section 30 contains the requirement of political party to register. Subsection (4) says that a registered political party must establish provincial branches with full time staffing at least 50% of the 22 provinces.This proposed change is to make political parties to have branches throughout the country. The branches must be mend by full time staff and must be operating according to the programs of the party. Currently out of the 45 political parties, only a few have branches in only a few branches. PNG has 22 provinces and the proposed change is suggesting that parties must have at least have branches in half of the 22 provinces.
6. Section 32 (3) [v] states that a formal agreement to be signed between the declared endorsed members and the party in a recently concluded national election to remain with the party until after the election of the Prime Minister.This proposed change is very important because it contributes to the respect that elected MPs must have towards their parties. We have had experiences where party endorsed candidates immediately leave their parties after their declaration despite using the name of the party and the resources given during the elections. Once a Prime Minister is elected then the MP can leave his/her party at his/her own will.
7. Section 33 sets out the registration procedure of a political party. Subsection (3) [b] states the amount of registration fee of a political party to register. The registration fee has increased to K30, 000.The proposed change to the increase in the registration fee is a deterrent to people who gives little thought to establishing a party. The current experience is that citizens form parties and then forget about the party making it inactive after an election.
8. Section 33 (3)[e] says that a political party must submit at least five of its main policies that are different from other existing parties with the application to register and also the party must submit its party structure.This proposed change is to allow parties to submit their policies that are different from the existing parties. Currently we have parties that talk about almost the same policies and makes it difficult to distinguish the parties from each other. It is also important for the parties to submit their party structure which must be based on the lines of authority as prescribed within their party constitutions.
   Subsection (3) [g] says that party executives must submit their CVs and police clearance.
   This proposed change is to ensure that party executives that are appointed must have integrity to hold the positions within their respective parties and have the relevant qualifications and experiences.
   Subsection (3) [h] states the process of registration of a new political party must not take more than three months. This proposed change is to allow citizens that are serious about establishing a political party to register their party within the required time.
9.  Section 33 (6) state that all political parties to renew their registration two years after the date of their registration with a fee of K15, 000 within 14 days.This proposed change is to ensure that only the serious and hardworking political parties to remain to exist. We have had political parties who were registered since 2001, contested all the elections since and did not win any seats and have remain inactive without membership throughout the country but yet are registered. This change is to off load these inactive parties out of the system. The renewal of the registration comes with a renewal fee.
10. Section 37 (3) [e] says that an application will be rejected should a dispute or disagreement arises prior to registration of a political party.This proposed change came about through the experiences of the Registry who have to deal with newly registered parties who had disputes amongst its members prior to the registration of the party. This has caused massive problems for these parties when preparing to contest the elections with different factions putting up their own candidates.
11. Section 46 contains provisions that deal with grounds for cancellation of registration of a political party. Subsection (1)[m] says that if a political party fails to renew its registration; subsection (1)[n] if a political party fails to resolve a prolonged dispute; and subsection (1)[o] if a political party fails to establish offices in 50% of the 22 provinces will face the consequences of being deregistered or cancelled by the Commission.This proposed change include grounds for deregistration of political parties. Some of the provisions have been highlighted earlier in the article.
12. Section 56 (5) says that candidates who intend to contest the national elections must meet certain integrity standards to qualify.This is another important proposed change in the Revised OLIPPAC. The integrity standards will be very specific that would only allow citizens with high standards to contest the elections as candidates. This proposed change would also eliminate those undesirables who contest for some unknown reasons.
13. Section 59 (2) says that a political party nominated candidates must be registered and be financial members of that political party not less than two years.
    This proposed change is radical in the sense that it would make elected MPs to have some degree of attachment to their party. We cannot continue to have elected MPs that are not members of parties and then move at their will with little considerations of the party. The membership to the party would allow the MPs to know what the party stands for and what the policies of the parties are.
14. Section 63 contains the provisions of invitation to form Government. Under subsection (1) says that on the date of the return of writs in a general election, the Registrar of Political Parties will advise the Governor-General of the registered political party that has endorsed the greatest number of candidates declared elected in an election. The advice of the Registrar of Political Parties will invite that registered political party to form government.Subsection (2) says that where two or more registered political parties have endorsed an equal number of candidates declared elected in the elections, the Registrar of Political Parties will advise the Governor-General. The Governor-General, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Registrar of Political Parties will invite the registered political party with the highest primary votes declared in the election to form Government.
    This proposed change is to allow for checks and balances to the invitation to form government. Parties come under the mandate of the Registrar and the OLIPPAC therefore the Registrar should be the rightful person that would make the invitation. This proposed change is not to usurp the powers of the Electoral Commissioner but to ensure that there is separation of the roles of the Registrar and the Electoral Commissioner.
15. Section 67 contains the provisions of funding of political party. Under subsection (2), it says that only a registered political party is eligible to receive a sum of K10, 000.00 for each MP that the registered political party successfully endorsed at the most recent general election or by-election.Section 67 (2) says that only a registered political party is eligible to receive an amount of K10,000 funding from the Central Fund and such funding shall be made to a political party, for each MP that  the registered political party successfully endorse at the most recent election or by-election. Funding of political parties is to be increased from K10, 000 to K20, 000.
    This proposed change is to ensure that parties with MPs have sufficient funds to fund their administrative roles and responsibilities. The prices of goods and services have increased therefore the increase in funding to political parties would enable the parties to have funds that would support their operations.
16. Section 71 (10)[a], [b], [c] and [d] contains the provisions regarding the contributions from citizens through fundraising activities by political parties and candidates must be reported to the Registry 7 days prior to the event, declare the total amount raised to the Registry and must include the amount raised in the annual financial returns. No government entities including State Owned Enterprises must donate to the fundraising activities.This provision is to allow parties to report on funds that their collect through various fund raising drives as a matter for transparency. Currently parties do not report this and the Registry could not monitor how much funds parties are making. At the same time, it is proposed that State Owned Enterprises cannot make contributions to parties at any point of time.
17.  Section 73 (3) says that a MP can leave a party and join another party but funding will still be paid to the original party; under Section 62 (4)[a] and [b] says that if the MP has left and joined another party, the MP must repay money given during elections and repay the funding to the party from CFB. This proposed change is to ensure that parties who support a candidate who wins his/her seat but then leaves the party for another would continue to receive funding from the CFB. This proposed change is to ensure that the party is rewarded for winning a seat or seats in the election. Currently we have parties who bring in successful candidates but then they depart leaving the party without any support at all. At the same time, the proposed change also says that before the departure of the MP, he/she must repay funds given to him/her during the election and also repay any funds to the CFB when he was still a member of the party. This proposed change is to limit party hopping by the MPs.
18. Section 78 (5) says that a candidate who seeks and accepts contributions from a citizen of more than K500,000 and from non-citizens for the purpose of his election would face a fine of K10, 000. This proposed change is to allow contributions to be made according to the limits as specified by law. Elections should be contested by citizens on an equal platform and not with some parties or candidates contesting with more resources than others. There must be an equal playing field for all the candidates. This change also targets "money politics" which has come to define elections in the country.
19. Section 81 contains the provisions of annual financial returns, under subsection (4) it says that a political party that fails to file an annual audited financial return is guilty of an offence and will be fined K10, 000 for the first year of not submitting financial returns and deregistration of the party for not submitting in the second consecutive year.This proposed change is to target parties that uses the current loophole in the OLIPPAC not to submit their annual returns in the first year but do so in the second year to avoid deregistration. In the proposed change if a party does not submit its annual returns in the first year, it will be fined and in the second year if it fails then the party will be deregistered.
20. Section 82 on False and Defective Returns subsection (3) says that a registered political party or a successful candidate who files a defective or false return is guilty and will be fined K10, 000 or will be jailed for a term of 12 months.This proposed change is to ensure that the returns submitted must be with accurate information on the funds available and how the funds were used during the elections. The Registry is of the view that information provided in the election returns by parties and winning candidates does not reflect the amount of funds used during the elections with so much cases of bribery and the use of money for illegal practices.

To conclude, the proposed amendments to the Constitution and the proposed changes in the Revised OLIPPAC are to improve the OLIPPAC and make it relevant to the changing political circumstances. The focus is basically to address some of the contested issues currently faced such as the number of political parties, making parties to become serious players in the politics of the country, ensuring that parties are grassroots organisations, making the use and raising of campaign finance to be more transparent and ensuring that parties exist and operates within the bounds of their constitutions and for them to promote democracy within their respective organisations.

The experiences of the Registry in enforcing the OLIPPAC since 2002 is also taken on board. With the nationwide consultation on halt due to funding shortages, would only delay the passage of the law which is long overdue. The changes as one can see does not favour any person, any party or any leader. It is neutral and it is framed with the aim of making improvements to the current OLIPPAC and ultimately to strengthen parties in the country.

For any citizens who require further explanation on the proposed changes, do not hesitate to contact the Registry on email partyregistry@ippcc.gov.pg or contact epok@ippcc.gov.pg or kpais@ippcc.gov.pg. 

Constructive comments are also welcome and would contribute to the wider consultation that the Registry would be undertaking shortly once funding is made available.

UNDP conducts Needs Analysis for PNG National Parliament

By Madeline Saga

The Registry assisted and organised a meeting for the United National Development Program (UNDP) and five political parties. UNDP is working with the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in conducting a needs assessment for the PNG Parliament.

The overarching outcome of the Needs Analysis and subsequent parliamentary support is to ensure that systems and processes are in place to provide for a Parliament that can efficiently and effectively undertake its legislative, oversight and representative functions, with a view to strengthening good governance and development outcomes in PNG. The Needs Analysis will both identify gaps in current structures, processes and human resource capacity and propose recommendations to strengthen the legislature.

Expected outputs from this assessment is:

• A Needs Assessment Report with practical recommendations on concrete initiatives to implemented under UNDP
• A full-pledged project document for UNDP’s assistance to the National Parliament of PNG. 

Two groups were identified in order to conduct this assessment which was A) Parliamentary Leaders and B) Political Parties who had members of Parliament. This is where the Registry came in by identifying parties to take part in the assessment.

Ms. Nanise Saune-Qaloewai of UNDP Fiji and Mr. Kevin Deveaux former Canadian Member of Parliament and UNDP Consultant overseeing this analysis met with the five political parties on the 12^th March 2019 at the Registry of Political Parties’ Bengo Conference room. A question was asked to the political parties if there was a need to provide support to parliament, their perception of parliament and if political groups were connected to parliament. The focus of these questions was to share knowledge and experiences of other practices of parliamentary systematic processes in other countries such as Fiji, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Each of the political parties were given an opportunity to share their experiences and understanding of the PNG Parliamentary system and to identify any gaps that are currently a hindrance  to Political parties and their connection to Parliament. The political parties present were pleased to have met the team from UNDP as this allowed more discussions on issues they believed was the result of a lack of confidence and communication with political parties and their role with the PNG Parliament. A number of interesting factors were taken into consideration such as;

• Confirming that there was in fact a weak Parliamentary committee system in which funding was the key setback
• There was a break down in relationships between Parliamentary committee and Political Party executives
• There was a need for political parties to have staff employed by parliament to enable parties constant communication with its parliamentary leaders
• Reintroduce this practice more than 20 years ago where each parliamentary leader was given 9 staff of which 4 represented a political party to which they were a member of
• Through the integration of party staff at the parliament the public would be invited for bills that need public scrutiny
• Current committee members most often do not receive their sitting allowance, therefore do not attend most of these meetings when held in parliament
• Political parties to take initiative to educate and train new staff under their parliamentary leader
• Parties to learn from other democratic nations who practice in engaging this practice successfully

Through the Political parties present the officials from UNDP were able to make contact to meet with each of the parties’ parliamentary leaders. This confirmed the importance of why party executives were vital in maintaining productive relationships and accountability between political parties and the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea. A progressive meeting will take place later on in the year.

Registry uses mentoring approach to train Political Parties

Kila Poka, General Secretary for PNG Party with mentors 
Solomon Puana and Jacinta Rakuafery 

By Claudio Labeli

After the 2017 general election, the Registry decided to changes its approach in training political parties. This was due to the observations by the Registry on a survey conducted in 2016 and the election observation of the 2017 National General Elections. A major finding was that political parties were still unknown to vast majority of the population and did not have influence when it comes to voting hence, voters do not vote for parties. 

In June 2018 selected Registry staff underwent an intensive one week “train the trainer” program facilitated by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) officials. The training saw 15 staff successfully completing the trainers program. Each staff were put into pairs and allocated four political parties each to mentor. This saw the first mentoring program began in late September 2018 with one session held for the year.

This approach anticipates to see more interactions between the trainers and the party executives whereby a lot more questions and answers are exchanged. The training is targeted for the General Secretary and the Presidents of each parties. Four sessions will be conducted on a quarterly basis every year till 2021. A training manual is currently been developed for this mentoring program by the ALP and the Registry.

The Registrar is pleased with the mentoring so far which allowed party executives to have me to one contact with mentors who are staff of the Registry.

A Nation-wide Consultation on the Revised Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC)”

Registrar, Dr Alphonse Gelu

By Dr Alphonse Gelu

The Registry of Political Parties in November 2018 received a letter from the Office of the State Solicitor requesting the Registry to conduct a nationwide consultation on the Revised Organic Law before it is given legal clearance to go before the National Executive Council (NEC) and then to Parliament. The main reason given by the State Solicitor is that the Organic Law is a Constitutional Law therefore the people of this country must have their say on any changes that are proposed. Transparency International had also recommended for a wider consultation before the Revised Law should go before NEC and Parliament. The Registry is now responding to the requests made despite that the Registry undertook some of the consultations back in 2014 and 2015. 

A budget for the consultation has been submitted to the Department of Treasury for funding in January, 2019 but the Registry has not received any response or acknowledgement on this request. 

For the benefit of the readers, the OLIPPAC was passed by Parliament back in 2001. A revision to the law was made in 2003 and which has been enforced since then. The main objectives of the OLIPPAC are; 

• · To maintain and sustain political stability
• · To promote integrity in the election process
• · To strengthen political parties in the country

Immediately after its passage, the OLIPPAC managed to maintain and sustain political stability which saw a government staying in office for the entire life of Parliament from 2002 to 2007. The same would occurred from 2007 2012 however the decision of the Supreme Court of 2010 that nullified certain provisions of the OLIPPAC and the eventual staging of the Impasse did not see a government staying in office for the 5 years term.

Parliament of PNG

However form 2012 to 2017, the country was able to maintain political stability through the coalition government headed by the People’s National Congress (PNC). The stability was achieved without the provisions of the OLIPPAC but through the ability of the Prime Minister to hold on to his coalitions partners and maintain the majority in Parliament. 

The second objective is still a work in progress as evident in the manner political parties participate in the elections since 2002 and the related issues that affects the integrity of the election process. 

The third objective is also a work in progress as the Registry since 2013 has implemented programs to strengthen the political parties in the country. 

The primary focus for the article is to discuss the Revised OLIPPAC and the importance of the nationwide consultation as requested by the State Solicitor. 

The work on the Revised OLIPPAC started immediately after 2010 through a process of consultation by the former Registrar and now a Member of the Bench, His Honour Sir Kina Bona. 

From the consultations a brief was prepared and by the end of 2012 a draft Revised OLIPPAC was ready. By March 2013, the first draft was submitted to the NEC and by April 2014, the final draft was approved by the NEC. Since 2014, the Revised OLIPPAC never went before Parliament and the process of passing the law ended when the country went to the elections in 2017. Soon after the 2017 election, the Registry started working on the Revised OLIPPAC again after having a discussion with the Minister for Justice & Attorney General. It was also a priority from the Alotau Accord 2 beside the Bill on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). 

The O’Neil-Abel Government made a commitment to immediately look into these Laws (Post Courier, August 10, 2017), however to date no progress has been made. 

The Revised OLIPPAC basically kept the majority of the provisions of the OLIPPAC, only about 5% of the provisions are new. The new provisions came about through the experiences of the Registry in implementing and enforcing the OLIPPAC since 2002 as well as filling the gaps that were left open by the decision of the Supreme Court in 2010. 

The proposed changes contained in the Revised OLIPPAC (2017) included the following new provisions; 

The first are the relevant constitutional provisions for amendment, alteration and repealing; 

1. Freedom of Assembly and Association (Amendment of Section 47) 

2. Voting in the Parliament (Amendment of Section 114) 

3. Parliamentary Privileges, etc., (Amendment of Section 115) 

4. Purpose of Subdivision H (Amendment of Section 127). 

5. Repeal and replacement of Section 128. 

And in giving effect to the purpose of those amendments, alteration and repealing, here are some of the specific changes and additional provisions contained in the revised Organic Law; 

1. Section 25 (4) says that a political party must nominate 20% of the total number of candidates nominated by the party as women candidates. 

2. Section 27 (7) says that Political parties must submit their membership listing to the Registry and the Registry will check and monitor the membership every two years. 

3. Section 28 (6) says that party executives who are unsuccessful in a national election and intend to hold a position as a party executive must comply with their party constitution on their reappointment. 

4. Section 28 (7) says that Salaries, allowances and other terms of conditions will be determined by the Registrar in consultation with the Salaries, Conditions and Monitoring Committee. 

5. Section 30 contains the requirement of political party to register. Subsection (4) says that a registered political party must establish provincial branches with full time staffing at least 50% of the 22 provinces. 

6. Section 32 (3) [v] states that a formal agreement to be signed between the declared endorsed members and the party in a recently concluded national election to remain with the party until after the election of the Prime Minister. 

7. Section 33 sets out the registration procedure of a political party. Subsection (3) [b] states the amount of registration fee of a political party to register. The registration fee has increased to 

K30, 000. 

8. Section 33 (3)[e] says that a political party must submit at least five of its main policies that are different from other existing parties with the application to register and also the party must submit its party structure. 

Subsection (3) [g] says that party executives must submit their CVs and police clearance. 

Subsection (3) [h] states the process of registration of a new political party must not take more than three months. 

9. Section 33 (6) state that all political parties to renew their registration two years after the date of their registration with a fee of K15, 000 within 14 days. 

10. Section 37 (3) [e] says that an application will be rejected should a dispute or disagreement arises prior to registration of a political party. 

11. Section 46 contains provisions that deal with grounds for cancellation of registration of a political party. Subsection (1)[m] says that if a political party fails to renew its registration; subsection (1)[n] if a political party fails to resolve a prolonged dispute; and subsection (1)[o] if a political party fails to establish offices in 50% of the 22 provinces will face the consequences of being deregistered or cancelled by the Commission. 

12. Section 56 (5) says that candidates who intend to contest the national elections must meet certain integrity standards to qualify. 

13. Section 59 (2) says that a political party nominated candidates must be registered and be financial members of that political party not less than two years. 

14. Section 63 contains the provisions of invitation to form Government. Under subsection (1) says that on the date of the return of writs in a general election, the Registrar of Political Parties will advise the Governor-General of the registered political party that has endorsed the greatest number of candidates declared elected in an election. The advice of the Registrar of Political Parties will invite that registered political party to form government. 

Subsection (2) says that where two or more registered political parties have endorsed an equal number of candidates declared elected in the elections, the Registrar of Political Parties will advise the Governor-General. The Governor-General, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Registrar of Political Parties will invite the registered political party with the highest primary votes declared in the election to form Government. 

15. Section 67 contains the provisions of funding of political party. Under subsection (2), it says that only a registered political party is eligible to receive a sum of K20, 000.00 for each MP that the registered political party successfully endorsed at the most recent general election or by-election. 

16. Section 67 (2) says that only a registered political party is eligible to receive an amount of K20,000 funding from the Central Fund and such funding shall be made to a political party, for each MP that the registered political party successfully endorse at the most recent election or by-election. Funding of political parties is increased from K10, 000 to K20, 000. 

17. Section 71 (10)[a], [b], [c] and [d] contains the provisions regarding the contributions from citizens through fundraising activities by political parties and candidates must be reported to the Registry 7 days prior to the even, declare the total amount raised to the Registry and must include the amount raised in the annual financial returns. No government entities including State Owned Enterprises must donate to the fundraising activities. 

18. Section 73 (3) says that a MP can leave a party and join another party but funding will still be paid to the original party; under Section 62 (4)[a] and [b] says that if the MP has left and joined another party, the MP must repay money given during elections and repay the funding to the party from CFB. 

19. Section 78 (5) says that a candidates who seeks and accepts contributions from a citizen more than K500,000 and from non-citizens for the purpose of his election would be a fine of K10, 000. 

20. Section 81 contains the provisions of annual financial returns, under subsection (4) it says that a political party that fails to file an annual audited financial return is guilty of an offence and will be fined K10, 000 for the first year of not submitting financial returns and deregistration of the party for not submitting in the second consecutive year. 

21. Section 82 on False and Defective Returns subsection (3) says that a registered political party or a successful candidate who files a defective or false return is guilty and will be fined K10, 000 or will be jailed for a term of 12 months. 

To conclude, the proposed amendments to the Constitution are not controversial including the proposed provisions of the revised OLIPPAC. They would tighten up on some of the areas that the Registry felt are currently weak and not producing the outcomes especially in strengthening political parties in the country. 

The focus of the Revised OLIPPAC is to strengthen political parties unlike the current OLIPPAC that restricted the conscience of the MPs and ruled unconstitutional. This is despite the case for argument on some of the provisions that were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

In the nationwide consultation, the people would be presented these changes and their views would be taken on board by the Registry when putting togather the final draft of the Revised OLIPPAC.

Why it is important to promote political parties

Registrar, Dr Alphonse Gelu

By Dr Alphonse Gelu

Papua New Guinea is part of the global family that adopted democracy as its ideology. As such pluralism is one of the defining features of democracy. Pluralism describes a system whereby the center of power is not confined to only one source but is scattered among different competing sources.

In democracies, the State is just one of the sources of power and has to compete with other sources which are equally powerful and important to politics. In mature democracies, the trade union movement or workers movement are equally powerful, as well as the business community and other pressure groups such as those on environment, the entertainment industry, the sporting community, etc are equally powerful. Political parties are also important sources of power as a result of their policies that gather support and mobilise the people to vote for their policies.

In Papua New Guinea, the State has to compete with other sources of power mainly the tribal groupings that we have as well as landowner groups and so forth. Tribal groupings become had powerful during elections and the manner in which they mobilise themselves makes them equally powerful against the police and military that provides security during the elections.One important source of power that needs greater recognition is the political parties in the country. Why it is important then to promote political parties in the country to make them relevant and meaningful to the people?

A very simple answer to that is because political parties according to the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) form governments in the country. That has been evident after the 2002, 2007, 2012 and the 2017 national elections. The people of this country must now know that when the country goes for the election, they would be voting for a party to form the government – thus, that is the party that would win the majority of the 111 seats in Parliament.

Beside parties forming governments in the country, other reasons why it is important to promote political parties in the country include;

• parties are weak on many fronts - structures, membership, funds, loyalty. These areas needed to be strengthen.
• parties can be the mouth piece for the people if they are strong and meaningful to the people
• parties can be held accountable by the people in terms of their performance in office and the outcomes of their policies
• parties have been around since the 1960s and have not developed to an expected level to make them strong institutions
• parties being responsible for instability and weak governments. Once strengthened they can become institutions that would maintain strong and responsible executive governments
• parties are democratic institutions that should represent the interests of all the citizens including the women

An important question that the people must ask themselves is, "are they voting for a party that would form the government or are they just voting anyone of their choices?" From empirical evidence, it is the second proposition that describe the reality of voting in Papua New Guinea. The people cast their preferences on whoever they think is their candidate of their choice. Hence the people's mandate stops there. It does not extend into which party should form the government. The formation of the government is the elected MPs sole doing and the people have no say over that. This act of voting behaviour also renders parties irrelevant to the people. There is a need to now make the political parties in the country relevant.

The formation of governments is an area that needs greater scrutiny and improvement in the country. The mandate given to a party must come from the people and not by the elected MPs themselves.

It is because of this reality, that the Registry of Political Parties in the last 4 to 6 years has been working hard to promote the political parties in the country.

Party executives in a L&D workshop hosted by the Registry

P

The first initiative the Registry undertook was the rollout of the Learning and Development Workshop. This was an initiative targeting the General Secretaries of the political parties. The General Secretaries are the key personnel within parties and the plan was implemented to build their capacities in managing their parties effectively. The plan was rolled out from 2013 to 2017. A total of over 2 million Kina was used to train the party's General Secretaries. The General Secretaries were the recipients of the training because those that have MPs in Parliament are on fortnightly salary. The training was initiated to make them learn new skills and to implement them and most importantly for them to rightfully earn their salaries. The plan was initially facilitated by the Center for Democratic Institutions based at the Australian National University (ANU) from 2013 to 2015 and was later taken over by the Registrar as the main facilitator. The topics covered in the plan enriched many of the General Secretaries. They ranged from designing and reviewing party policies, selection of candidates, support for women candidates, raising funds, basic book keeping, roles of parties, how to prepare well for elections, campaign plans, campaign strategies, voting system, etc. The Australian Labour Party became the main partner in this initiative. The Liberal Party also came on board on several occasions. Beside these 2 parties from Australia, the UNDP also assisted financially in a number of forums.

The second initiative was the design and roll out of the theme, "Know Your Party" "Vote Your Party". This initiative was the beginning of the actual promotion of political parties in the country. A number of activities followed from this theme;

• printing of flags party flags
• printing of information on all the registered parties - leaders, policies, addresses, etc
• printing of party logos
• printing of booklets on political parties, candidates, registration of parties, policies of parties, mandate of the Registry and other promotional items.

The third initiative was the use of the radio to promote the political parties. The Registry went into partnership with the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to promote political parties. Air time was given to party leaders to promote their parties. This activity took place a year before the 2017 national election.

The fourth initiative was the roll out of the Political Party Expos. The first took place in November 2017 in Port Moresby. All parties were invited but only about 15 took part. The main aim of the expo is to allow the parties to make them visible to the public and to allow the public to sign up as members of the parties. A number of party leaders turned up to support their parties - Sir Julius Chan, Hon Patrick Pruaitch, Hon Garry Juffa, and Hon Bryan Krammer, and Hon Sam Basil.

The second party expo took place in Madang in June 2018, again a number of parties joined the Registry in the expo. The expo in Madang was attended by Hon Peter Yama and Hon Bryan Krammer. The third party expo was held in Lae in June 2018 and former Governors for Morobe, Hon Kelly Naru and Hon Luther Wenge also attended. The Chief of Staff for the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Eddie Jondi Mike also attended. The expos in Madang and Lae were funded by the UNDP office based in Suva with support from the UNDP office in Port Moresby. These 2 expos also allowed the public to sign up as members of the parties that were present.

The new theme the Registry developed after the 2017 election is "Know A Party" "Join A Party". The aim of this theme is to allow and get the people to know the political parties and to join the parties as financial members. Parties needed a support base of supporters to be in a better position to win votes and seats in elections.

Registrar giving a presentation with the theme "Know a Party, Join a Party"

Prior to the party expo in Lae, a forum was organised jointly by the Registry and the UNDP Suva Office for the parties in supporting women contesting the national elections and the LLG Elections. Experts were brought in from New Zealand, Fiji, and the Netherlands to share their experiences with the officials present and the women participants.

The fifth and the most recent initiative undertaken by the Registry to promote political parties is the district awareness on political parties. The first district awareness took place in Sumkar and Bogia in October/November 2018. The staff from the Registry visited the different communities in the 2 districts and conducted awareness on the importance of parties, roles of parties and information on parties in the country. The staff were also able to recruit supporters on behalf of parties which were handed over to the parties to enlist in their database.

In November of 2018, a number of staff including the Acting Registrar attended the Kenu-Kundu Festival in Alotau to promote political parties and handed out information on parties to the public. The Registry also managed to enlist membership for the parties. The Acting Registrar appeared on NBC Milne Bay to promote the visit in Alotau and also took time to speak to students at Hagita Secondary School.

All the initiatives that the Registry has rolled out since 2013 up to now is to promote political parties in the country. The main aim of this initiative is to strengthen the relationship between the people, the parties and the formation of the government. This initiative requires a transformation in the attitude and values of the people by making the people to think more about parties rather than on the candidates. This would allow the people to have direct control and say on which party should form the government rather than leaving this process to the elected MPs.

Mr Gawi of  PUA and Ms Grant of NA doing activities
in the L& D Workshop 

The biggest challenge for the Registry is the funding from the government. The funding has not been coming and this is the biggest problem faced by the Registry. The rational of making political parties relevant through the promotional activities of the Registry is a process that should be of interest to all. The Registry is only attempting to strengthen the law relating to the formation of the government and how the people should have a say in the formation of governments in the country.

Another important challenge is for the party leaders and followers to believe in the party. They cannot only do this during elections, but all throughout the life span of the party. They must show commitment to the party and to support the party in its outreach programs. They must not wait for someone else to tell them what to do. They have to do things on their own accord and initiative.

I have spoken about the electoral cycle – the next election is in 2022, political parties must now be halfway into whatever activities they are doing to promote themselves. We cannot continue to be complacent but to become active in promoting our parties.

As the Registry sees it, there is no positive sign coming out from the 45 political parties. Only a couple have had their conventions after the 2017 national election. The rest have not and this is disappointing. How would they know what happened in the 2017 election? Should the executives remain or should there be changes? Is the policies of the party relevant? These are issues that needs to be dealt with in the conventions.

There is still a greater need for parties to expose themselves in the country. Parties must become relevant to the people. The people must know about them and the parties must continue to show themselves. This would bring about positive signs to the political development of our country and to which the Registry is committed to.

Registration of new membership for political parties

Registrar Dr Alphonse Gelu

Dr Alphonse Gelu        

The Registry of Political Parties recently registered new membership for political parties in the districts of Bogia and Sumkar in the Madang Province and also in Alotau, Milne Bay Province. Registration of membership in Bogia and Sumkar was done during the awareness exercise on political parties and in Alotau during the Kenu Festival.

Registration of membership for political parties is one of the important responsibilities of political parties in any democracy. Unfortunately in Papua New Guinea, political parties are not doing this. There is this reality of a strong detachment between the people and the parties that makes parties weak as democratic institutions in the country. Parties are not empowering the people to become members of their respective organisations and become active participants in the affairs of the parties.

Bogia and Sumkar Districts

Four teams from the Registry were deployed in the districts, 2 in Sumkar and 2 in Bogia from October 3rd to the 10^th, 2018. The awareness took almost a week where the teams went into the villages and spoke with the people on the questions of; what are political parties, what is the role of political parties, how many political parties we have in Papua New Guinea, who are the leaders of the political parties, how the parties can be contacted, why it is important to join a party, why it is important to consider supporting women candidates, etc.

Villagers in Bogia listening to officers conducting the awareness

The awareness in Bogia and Sumkar districts is part of the priority for the Registry in the next 3 to 4 years to educate our people about political parties. From the encounter with the people, it was obvious that the people in the 2 districts have limited knowledge about political parties and why they are important to our country. Many have not heard about political parties and many don’t even know the policies and leadership of political parties in the country. This lack of knowledge on parties had contributed to the style of voting that has been predominant since the 1970s where the voters vote for candidates than the political parties.

To the people in Bogia and Sumkar, they only see political parties come around their districts during the elections. After the elections, political parties are not seen or heard of. This reality has prompted the Registry to make an urgent call to all the political parties to go to villages and districts throughout the country and make themselves known to the people.

Political parties have failed miserably to do this especially the executives of the 45 political parties that we now have in the country. Their failures to make contact with the people is counterproductive to the process of the invitation that is made to a party that has won the majority of seats in the election to form the government. The relationship between the people and the parties must be strengthened and this can only be done if the executives play their part by putting in place a program to make them visible to the people.

For the parties, this exercise should start immediately after the last concluded election in 2017 and continue into 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The period in between the election is 5 years and this is plenty of time for the political parties to re-group and start on re-building themselves for the next election.

During the awareness in Bogia and Sumkar, the Registry also on behalf of the political parties enlisted membership for political parties. This is shown in Table 1 and Table 2.

Table 1: Membership Registration in Sumkar District (Team 1 & 2)
No	Political Parties	Total Membership
1	Peoples National Congress	13
2	Pangu Party	77
3	Allegiance Party	39
4	National Alliance Party	33
5	Peoples Progress Party	8
6	PNG National Party	2
7	Social Democratic Party	3
8	Peoples Labour Party	54
9	United Resources Party	1
10	Model Nation Party	3
11	PNG Trust Party	1
12	PNG Human Rights	1
13	Coalition for Reform Party	2
14	PNG Country Party	1

From Table 1, a total of 238 people were registered as members of the 14 political parties, with Pangu leading followed by People’s Labour Party and others. This is an indication of how many people in Sumkar prefer which parties as indicated in the registration of members.

Table 2: Membership Registration in Bogia District (Team 2 &3)
No	Political Parties	Total Membership
1	Peoples National Congress	12
2	Pangu Party	33
3	Allegiance Party	46
4	National Alliance Party	34
5	Peoples Progress Party	10
6	PNG National Party	4
7	People's Democratic Movement Party	1
8	People's Movement for Change	1
9	Social Democratic Party	3
10	Peoples Labour Party	58
11	PNG One Nation Party	1
12	Grassroots United Party	1
13	SOM Pioneer Party	9
14	Melanesian Alliance Party	6
15	PNG Party	8
16	Mapai Levites Party	1
17	PNG Greens Party	1
18	New Generation Party	1
19	THE Party	2
20	Peoples Party	3
21	PNG Socialist Party	1

From the above table, People’s Labour Party had 58 people registered as its members followed by Allegiance with 46 and Pangu and National Alliance following closely. The Registry managed to register 233 people for the 21 parties included in Table 2 in Bogia.

Kenu Festival - Alotau

In November 3, 4 and 5, the Registry attended the Kenu Festival in Alotau. A stall was given to the Registry which the Registry used to distribute information on political parties to the public. In the 3 days well over 1000 people were given information packs and the staff from the Registry including the Registrar were present talking to the people about the political parties in the country and their importance to our democracy. Beside this, the Registrar was also on NBC – Radio Milne Bay and spoke about the purpose of the Registry’s presence at the Kenu Festival. The Registrar also took time to speak to students at Hagita Secondary School about political parties. The audience at Cameron Secondary was disrupted by the law and order issue that engulfed Alotau soon after the Kenu Festival.

During the Kenu Festival, the Registry on behalf of the political parties enlisted a good number of membership for the different political parties. As indicated in Table 3, the following political parties had membership enlisted in Alotau;

Table 3: Membership Registration during the Kenu Festival in Alotau

Political Party	Male	Female	Total
People’s National Congress	20	6	26
Pangu	12	0	12
Allegiance	7	3	10
National Alliance	3	4	7
People’s Progress Party	5	1	6
National Party	2	4	6
Christian Democratic	1	4	5
People’s Democratic Movement	4	0	4
PNG Party	4	0	4
Our Development Party	3	0	3
People’s Movement for Change	4	0	4
Social Democratic Party	2	0	2
United Party	2	0	2
People’s Labour Party	0	1	1
PNG One Nation	1	0	1
Melanesian Liberal Party	0	1	1
Wantok in Godly Services	1	0	1
United Resources Party	1	0	1
Grassroots United Front	1	0	1
Total	73	24	97

The above table shows how many males and females enlisted as members of political parties for the 3 days the Registry was in Alotau. The number definitely would increase if the membership drive is also done in other districts in Milne Bay, however that is the responsibility for each political party to undertake. It is not the duty of the Registry to do this. The membership forms taken in Alotau will be given to the respective parties to enter into their membership databases (that’s if they have any) and for them to make contact with their members in Alotau.

Conclusion

It is from such activities undertaken by the Registry of Political Parties that would provide some degree of predictability especially when it comes to the support a party would receive in a particular district in the country. This kind of work undertaken by the Registry is therefore important not only to the parties but to the Registry when it goes about in conducting its awareness on political parties.

It has to be emphasised here that the role of registering membership is the sole responsibility for the political parties. The Registry is kick starting this process on behalf of the parties but it is the parties that must keep this process going until the next election.

The figures given for each political party that had members signed up in Bogia and Sumkar and in Alotau would act as a guide to the support base for a party. It is up to the parties to exploit this to their advantage.

For the Registry, it will keep its awareness program going until 2022 and along the way would continue to register membership on behalf of political parties so as to indicate the support base of political parties in districts throughout Papua New Guinea.