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| Registrar, Dr Alphonse Gelu |
By Dr Alphonse Gelu
Political
parties are political organisations that are made up of likeminded individuals
to pursue a common interests on a wide range of issues or on specific issues.
In looking at the origins of political parties around the world, this has been
the common characteristics of the origins of the parties. The formation of
parties is different to the formation of other groups due to the outlook of
those that forms parties. Parties operates at the national level and the focus
for parties compared to the other groups is that they intend to contest the
elections and win seats in the legislature at the national level.
There may be
parties that are regionally/provincial based but for countries like Papua New
Guinea, the formation of parties focuses on winning seats in elections and
taking a place at the Parliament.
In this article
I will provide some insights on how political parties are organised and some of
the requirements that must be fulfilled as part of the political party culture
in a democracy such as in Papua New Guinea.
The Organic Law
on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) provides for the
establishment of political parties through the registration process which is
carried out by the Registry of Political Parties.
Enlisting Membership into Political Parties
In PART III – POLITICAL PARTIES GENERALLY of the OLIPPAC, covered Sections on the membership of political
parties; executive officers of political parties; public officer; requirement
of political party to register; and qualifications for registration.
In terms of
membership, party membership shall not be restricted on the basis of sex, race,
religion or place of origin. However non-citizens cannot be members of
political parties. And a person cannot be a member of more than one political
party.
In order for a
political party to be active, it must have members. The current practice in
Papua New Guinea and even since 1968, political parties have not been able to
recruit people to become its members. Political parties do not even keep
records of its membership and this is one of the most obvious weakness faced by
political parties in the country.
The Registry has
continuously reminded political parties to recruit membership throughout the
country. In 2013, the Registry designed a template to allow political parties
to register their members and the Registry even offered the parties to maintain
its register of membership within the Registry’s information system. To date no
political parties have been able to do this.
The Registry
since 2018 has been registering members on behalf of political parties. Some
provinces and districts that the Registry has been able to do this was in
Madang and Lae, in Sumkar and Bogia and in Alotau, all in 2018. Even during the
party expo held in Port Moresby in November 2017, some parties that
participated were able to recruit membership from the public that attended.
Enlisting
membership is the main source of the party raising its own funds. The fees the
members pay can be used to administer the affairs of the parties. In New
Zealand in the last election, the Labour Party raised about $4 million from its
members themselves. The same can be done in Papua New Guinea, it the parties
can maintain a good record of its membership.
A group that the
Registry is targeting are the women. The Registry is calling on all the
interested women to join a political party. It would be an advantage to the
women to join a party and when thinking of taking part in an election as a
candidate, the party (ies) would readily endorse the women candidates.
Executives of Political Parties and Remuneration
The executive
officers of political parties are the key individuals that manages the
operations of the political parties. In Section 25 of the OLIPPAC, it stated
that a political party must have the following executive officers; a president;
a secretary; a treasurer; a parliamentary leader. Some parties using their
discretions and including in their party constitutions have also included a
position of Vice-President of the party.
The appointment
of the executives are to be done in a democratic manner. The function of each
of the executives of the parties are clearly spelt out in the respective
constitutions of each political party.
Under the
current arrangements, those political parties with members in Parliament are
remunerated. The General Secretaries receives fortnightly salaries while the
President and Treasurer receives monthly stipends. These are administered by
the Registry of Political Parties. In 2013, I made a decision to cease payments
of gratuity and leave entitlements to the General Secretaries due to the
absence of an administrative and legal framework that would justify the payments
of these entitlements. The General Secretaries are appointed by their
respective political parties but are paid for by the State despite them not
having any form of contract in place with the State. Gratuities are paid based
on performance. As it currently stands, the General Secretaries do not report
to anyone on their performance that would justify the payments of their
gratuities.The Registry has
since been in consultation with the Department of Personnel Mangement to sort
this matter out.
In the programs
conducted by the Registry since 2013, the General Secretaries have been the
target of trainings. The trainings conducted since 2013 is to build the
capacity of the General Secretaries so that they could effectively manage the
operations of their respective political parties. The General Secretaries are
the key people within the political parties. They are the ones that identify
the various activities for the party, they liaise between the different groups
in the party, they organise meetings, they brief the other executives on
matters arising, they liaise closely with the Registry on matters faced by the
party, and so on. They are also the first people that the Registry make contact
with when it comes to important matters that the Registry want parties to know
about.
Unity/Cooperation amongst the Executives and the
Parliamentary Wing
The executives
of political parties are made of two groups, the non-parliamentary wing and the
parliamentary wing. Both groups are equally important for a political party,
none is to be seen or claim to be powerful over the other. Once such mentality
emerges than it would only create animosity and instability within the party.
The relationship between the two groups are also clearly outline in the constitutions
of the political parties.
One of the
critical areas that is important to maintaining unity and cooperation within
the parties is the relationship between the executives of political parties and
the parliamentary leader or the parliamentary wing. This is so critical because
once there is a breakdown in the relationship then this would greatly affect
the operations of the party.
Conventionally,
there must always be a good relationship between the executives. They must
respect each other’s sphere of authority. There must be continuous line of
communications between the two groups especially between the non-parliamentary
wing and the parliamentary wing. An issue that has created problems for the
political parties is the practice of the parliamentary leader claiming overall
authority over the other executives. The parliamentary leader possess the same
amount of authority just like the other executives who are non-members of
Parliament. For many parties, this is clearly stated in the party constitution.
The parliamentary
leaders must therefore see and treat the non-parliamentary executives with
respect and to work closely with them for the interest of the party. While the
parliamentary leader is busy with his duties in parliament and also in his/her
electorate, it is the non-parliamentary executives that are responsible for the
overall operations of the party.
The same goes
for the other members of the party in Parliament. They must respect the non-parliamentary
executives and cooperate with them in advancing the interests of the party. If
there is any signs of disagreement, this must be settled in a manner that does
not disrupt the overall functioning of the party.
National Conventions and Key Activities for Political
Parties
One key activity
that the parties and that is all the political parties must convene is the
national convention of the party. Political parties are supposed to be mass
based organisations. That is they must have roots in the communities. It is in
the party conventions that would allow members of the parties regardless of
their status to participate in the discussions.
This is one
activity that political parties in Papua New Guinea have not done well with. It
really defeats the whole idea of having a party in place because how are
decisions made within parties and how can the members have some say in the
affairs of the political parties.
Some of the
critical activities that must be taken by the executives of the parties with
support from the parliamentary members of the parties include;
- Organising party conventions to
elect executives and also the presentation of the party’s experiences in the
last election (2017)
- Awareness throughout the
country about the party
- Enlisting members to join
parties
- Fundraising drive for the party
- Working on the annual financial
returns to be submitted to the Registry
- Continuous engagements between
the executives and the parliamentary wing
- Revising party policies
- Attending to matters as
directed by the Registry of Political Parties
- Establishing Women and Youth
Wings in Provinces/Districts
The above
activities are critical for the parties. There is plenty to do for the
executives. Unfortunately at this stage, there is no legal requirement for the
parties to report to the Registry about their roles and responsibilities
despite the Registry requesting political parties to do this since 2013.
The Registry
would continue to demand from the executives on their work plans which all the
parties failed to submit to the Registry. As a result of this, the Registry has
no idea on what the political parties are doing.
Conclusion
Political parties
as political organisations have their own structures in place. The structure
explains and show the relationship between the different groups within the
party.
The parties are
managed by a group of individuals who are the executives. The executives are
both non-parliamentarian and parliamentarian. As shown in the article, it is
important that the relationship between the two groups must be based on mutual
respect in order to generate a peaceful climate for the party to exist in.
As the
executives, they have the interest of the party in their hands. There are
critical areas that the executives must try and do something about. These areas
are critical to the survival of the party. We really don’t expect the
executives especially the non-parliamentary executives not to conduct
activities relating to the strengthening of the parties. They must see this as
their utmost priority that is why they were elected in the first place. The
mindset and the energy given to making the parties known throughout the country
must be part of the culture of being an executive of a party. We really don’t
expect individuals to be elected and sit around doing nothing.
The Registry of
Political Parties had demanded the parties and their executives to report to it
on their work plans however this has not been forthcoming. The Registry would
still insist on this as this would really justify the salaries and the
allowances that are paid to the executives that have members in Parliament and
most importantly to simply strengthen the parties in the country.