OCEANIA/PAPUA NUOVA GUINEA - I Vescovi invitano la popolazione a prepararsi seriamente alle prossime elezioni politiche

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 politics   human rights   elections   citizenship  

OCEANIA/PAPUA NEW GUINEA - The Bishops invite the population to seriously prepare for the upcoming political elections
Port Moresby (Agenzia Fides) - Raise awareness and educate voters to choose their future government representatives wisely and freely: with this objective, in view of the general elections to be held in the country in 2022, the Conference of Bishops of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands is already working to alleviate the climate of tension generated by the environmental, cultural and social emergency registered in the country.
According to observers, Papua New Guinea remains very unstable economically and politically, as well as being considered a nation with a high rate of corruption. Hence, according to the note from the General Secretariat of Bishops sent to Agenzia Fides, the work of a necessary cultural and social awareness of citizens, to which the Catholic communities will make a valuable contribution. Some analysts are commenting that this could be the most controversial and bloody elections in Papua New Guinea's history. "We can all avoid this escalation of violence by committing ourselves to verify the true preparation and willingness to serve the country of the people we are going to choose to represent us. We are not going to vote for leaders, but for people who represent us and know the territory, the people, and who are capable of governing in a serious way", the Bishops say. "The 111 Members of Parliament must defend us, they must fight for us, they must commit themselves above all to their electorate and to the whole nation. Good representatives know how to listen, they must be people involved in health, education, unions, who have good international relations, state administration capacity, community service and social welfare. People who have leadership skills. It is time to also encourage the presence of women - the Bishops insist - who do not allow themselves to be involved in private matters and show more empathy with people". "What is needed is a Parliament that passes laws and implements policies for the benefit of the entire community, and new representatives need to be elected every five or ten years at the most". In Papua New Guinea, the national Parliament is unicameral and consists of 111 seats, although the Constitution allows up to 126. Deputies are directly elected from single-member constituencies. Elected members serve a five-year term. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 19/5/2021)


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