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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth to Observe General Election in Papua New Guinea

3 June 1997

A team of 10 Commonwealth Observers, supported by staff from the Commonwealth Secretariat, will be present in Papua New Guinea for the General Election which is to be held from 14-28 June 1997.

In making the announcement today, Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku said that the Commonwealth was responding to an invitation from the Government of Papua New Guinea to observe the General Election. An assessment mission from the Commonwealth Secretariat, which visited Papua New Guinea from 18-23 May, established that there was widespread support among the major political parties for a Commonwealth presence during the election.

The Commonwealth team for Papua New Guinea will be led by the Hon Sir Robin Gray, former Speaker of Parliament and former Minister in New Zealand.  The other observers will be:


  Sir Jim Lester                  Britain
  Former Member of Parliament

  Ms Joycelyn Lucas    Trinidad and Tobago
  Chief Electoral Officer

  Mr Ejaz Naik                     Pakistan  
  Former Secretary to Government

  Hon Justice Muhammad       Bangladesh
  Habibur Rahman  
  Former Chief Justice and former  
  head of interim government

  Mr M Rasgotra      India
  Former Foreign Secretary

  Hon Paul Rupia    Tanzania
  Member of Parliament and  
  former Cabinet Secretary

  Hon  Omar Sey     The Gambia
  Former Cabinet Minister

  Ms Judy Thompson  Canada
  Electoral Expert

  Hon  Ian MacPhee                  Australia
  Former Cabinet Minister
                                     
                                                                                                   
The Group is mandated to consider the various factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole, and to determine in its own judgement whether the conditions exist for a free expression of will by the electors, and if the results of the election reflect the wishes of the people of Papua New Guinea. The Group would also be free to propose to the Government and other concerned authorities such action on institutional, procedural and other matters as would assist the holding of the elections and, thereafter, the effective functioning of the elected government.

The Group will be supported by an eight-member team from the Commonwealth Secretariat led by Professor Reg Austin, Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division.

 

Note to Editors:


At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1989, Commonwealth leaders decided that the observation of elections at the request of member governments would be a useful way of promoting the democratic ethic. The mission to Papua New Guinea will be the 22nd undertaken by the Commonwealth since October 1990. These include elections in Bangladesh, Guyana, Malaysia, Zambia. St Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, South Africa, Ghana, Pakistan and, most recently, Cameroon.

 

97/23                 3 June 1997

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