A TWO-term sitting Member of Parliament from the Southern Highlands province is among 875 voters omitted from his village strong hold. According to the PNG Electoral Commission final common roll dated May 21, 2017, Kagua-Erave MP James Lagea’s named is not included. An irate Mr Lagea warned that if the matter was not officially rectified by the Commission there will not be any polling held in the electorate. And he is planning to lead 10,000 supporters to protest the omissions on Wednesday in Kagua. Mr Lagea said he has been enrolled in his home village of Yanguri in the Aiya Local Level Government since 1982 in which he contest four consecutive elections winning two in 2007 and 2012. He said 875 votes from his village were omitted, including his wife and his children. He said in the Preliminary Roll dated March 22, all their names were registered but for unknown reasons the final copy does not have his name, his wife, his children and 800 of his relatives. “There will be no elections for Kagua-Erave until my name is re-registered and that of my voters and that includes 800 from my village and 5000 from my strong hold. On Wednesday more than 10, 000 of my supporters will stage a biggest political protest in Kagua and we will make sure no election is conducted until the omissions are rectified. “The Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato needs to address these issues. The Commission has not distributed the electoral roll, an important document for the public to see and object. There was no objection and the materials have been kept so secret until the polling day. This is only done to cover fishy deals by Electoral Commission employees in headquarters colluding with candidates to inflate and deflate numbers of eligible voters,” he said. Mr Lagea is asking the Commissioner to send one of his senior officers to Kagua to explain the discrepancy. “He must do something now or there is no election in Kagua Erave. Whom are the 31 candidate challenging, a ghost or who. If it is me then why is my name not listed. Is it because I’m not eligible by residential status or what,” Mr Lagea asked. Mr Gamato did not respond when contacted for his comments. Post Courier/ PNGfacts Comments are closed.
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