On the Tuesday the 17th of July 2025, Local-level Government Election Observation Team New Ireland from the Registry of Political Parties dropped by at the National Broadcasting Corporation New Ireland for a live interview. The Registry of Political Parties is the only governmental institution presently conducting election observations in this year’s LLG elections.
The Registry have a team on the ground, to observe and document the administration, and conduct of the 2025 LLG elections, with the stated aim of understanding the role of political parties in the communities. The team, led by Director for Policy, Legal and research, Patrick Kaiku says, they are holding discussions with political parties, candidates, and key stakeholders across two districts of Namatanai and Kavieng, to assess the environment in which the elections are being held.
He said: “election observations are very important because yumi bai kisim experience na lessons blong elections ba em bai informim how bai yumi prepare for the next election ah!” He said we’ve been having elections since 1964 and 50 years later, we are still having issues. “So mipla kam long Niu Ailan yah, em blong traim blong understandim whether ol political parties or whether environment i allowim pipol long expressim democratic rights blong ol, igo gut or align wantem tingting blong gavman long conductim free na safe elections,” he said.
The Registry has teams doing LLG elections observation nationally. Provinces covered in this year’s LLG elections include the Central Province, Morobe, Madang, East Sepik, Sandaun, Western Highlands, Enga, Southern Highlands, Jiwaka, Eastern Highlands, Northern (Oro), West New Britain, and New Ireland Provinces.
It is imperative that elections – both national and local-level government elections are observed because the documentation of election processes is the basis to inform policy and legislative reforms for future elections. The findings and recommendations from elections observations will help the Registry of Political Parties to present strong recommendations to decision-makers, with the aim of strengthening future electoral processes, especially at the subnational level.
source:NBC New Ireland/P.Kaiku