I don’t intend to dent the enthusiasm of genuine candidates and supporters about the fast-approaching National Election in 2022. But what follows must be said.

There are people preparing behind the scenes to defraud the election process once more to get the results they want. Some of them have done it before, got away with and are enjoying the fruits of their ‘labour’. There would be nothing stopping them from doing it again.

My biggest heartache for our great country is that those who have defrauded recent national elections and got away with it, would be out there once again, if they have not changed their bad ways.

The fact that the system has not caught up with defrauders of recent elections or they have managed to ‘outsmart’ it, does not make such people free from any sense of guilt within themselves.

I said here before that those who enter Parliament through fraudulent means and remain there by thwarting any opposition from petitioners does not make them entirely free from feeling guilty of entering Parliament through the proverbial ‘back door’.

They know who they are and I hope they do change their ways and approach the 2022 National Election with a clean heart and mind to allow the due legal process of an election to work.

The danger we face as a nation is the potential of the 2022 National Election facing the same serious problems of the 2017 National Election which international and national observers found it to be very problematic in many key areas that prevented a “free and fair election” from taking place.

What concerns me is that the signs of a potential repeat of the problems in the 2017 poll are there. I’m not a pessimist but a realist to say this.

My take is, we have to brace for another highly mismanaged national election. We may want to say all the nice things for our ears to have a free and fair national election, but the reality has been and will be different. There will be many angry and disappointed people when the polling results start to come out next year. Make no mistake about that from happening.

What are some of the signs of the potential of a repeat of the problems of the 2017 National Election?

Firstly, the Government of Papua New Guinea is yet to take on board the recommendations of international and national observers of the problematic National Election in 2017. The observers highlighted many problems and recommended solutions for the Government of Papua New Guinea to take up and address the issues.

Even our own leaders such as former Prime Minister the late Sir Mekere Morauta urged the Government to institute a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate what went wrong in the 2017 National Elections and recommend changes. Sir Mekere made the call as an aggrieved candidate of the Moresby Northwest seat, which he eventually won, but not without its serious misgivings that made him one of the last MPs to be officially declared.

The serious problems of missing names, bloated Common Roll figures and ballot papers in same electorates and less in other electorates were among some of the problems highlighted by the observers.

These are among the problems that ought to have been taken onboard soon after the formation of government in August and September of 2017 and addressed.

A good Common Roll is so important so has anyone updated it for 2022? When and how will those who did not vote in 2017 because of their names of were missing on the Common Roll have their names taken down? When will our youth who were between 13 years old and 17 years old in April 2017 get their names into the Common Roll because they are now over 18 years old and are eligible to vote? These are important and time-consuming issues to be addressed so I hope the Electoral Commission has got a plan in place to implement and ensure all eligible voters are registered in an updated Common Roll ready for the 2022 poll.

Secondly, the recommendation from international and national observers appear not have been adopted and attended to by the Government? Even a Commission of Inquiry into the management and conduct of the 2017 National Election, as recommended by Sir Mekere was not accepted.

What is the underlying message in this State inaction? Are some people afraid of being exposed? Are these reports and recommendations not worth the paper they were written on?

The Electoral Commission has nine months to adopt and implement some of the recommendations so that we have a free and fair national election. Some of the headline problems faced in 2017 such as missing names on the Common Roll, large number of ballot papers in some electorates and less number in some electorates, need to be addressed. We the citizens must feel confident that the State will deliver us a “free and fair national election” by ensuring all the variables work according to law and as expected in a constitutional democracy like PNG.

Thirdly, the politicking that is going on between the incumbent government and those opposed or outside of it plus their benefactors and supporters at this time, is something that our country can do without. But it is happening.

Related to this are some of the changes in public service positions and the interference in the timely disbursement of the District Services Improvement Program (DSIP) funds for certain electorates are among some of the signs persons trying to position themselves for a desired outcome in the 2022 National Election.

In addition to the above, there is the assignment of proxies and henchmen to do early campaigning in the districts and provinces while at the same time naming and shaming one and another in the media, especially Facebook. Reading many of these presentations on Facebook, it is easy to see who is saying what and posting an image for a certain political agenda with an anticipated outcome at the 2022 polls. We the citizens just do not need the clash of personalities

What we want to hear is how the national economic woes are going to be addressed. We are interested about how the economy is going to be fixed amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.

We want to know about how jobs are going to be created and how many of our children are going to be educated from early childhood to university level in a systemic way over the next five to 20 years and further. We want to hear about how the resources sector is going to be kick-started and for the government to refocus earnings from it as the driver of other sustainable economic sectors like agriculture, fisheries and tourism. We want to know how the law and problems including sorcery and violence against women are going to be addressed after the 2022 National Election.

We, the citizens, are not interested in seeing a political opponent’s dirty linen being hung up on Facebook and going on a tit-for-tat rat race in the lead up to the 2022 poll. We’ve had enough of such child-like behavior.

More importantly, we want to hear about how the problems of the 2017 National Election are going to be addressed in the remaining nine months as an assurance that the Electoral Commission and its master the State, we will give us a truly “free and fair election” in 2022. Otherwise, we are in for the same problems or worse and we have to brace for it.