Politics, Religion, and the Churches:The 2002 Election in Papua New Guinea
Date
2004
Authors
Gibbs, Philip
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Canberra, ACT: Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University
Abstract
In Papua New Guinea in the immediate aftermath of the 2002 national election, many of
more than two million potential voters looked for ways to express their feelings of
anger, disappointment, and frustration. With 43 political parties and 2785 candidates
vying for 109 seats in parliament, some hitches were predictable. However, no one
expected the extent of the chaos and intimidation that was experienced in many parts of
Papua New Guinea during June and July 2002. After having spent 29 years in Papua
New Guinea, I am well aware of how foolhardy it is to try to generalize about the
situation in that country but on this occasion there was a pervasive sense that something
had gone terribly wrong.
On the first day of polling, the Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta, having had to wait
for nearly five hours to cast his vote, was reported as saying, “This is more than a
bungle. Someone should be hung for this” (Post-Courier, 18 June:1). That was on 17
June and the situation subsequently deteriorated. The Prime Minister was fortunate.
Bishop Arnold Orowae, Catholic bishop in Enga Province, lined up in Wabag to cast his
vote only to find that his name did not appear on the electoral roll. He left without
voting and with a feeling of having been disenfranchised. In Port Moresby, 90 students
at the Don Bosco Technical College were registered so that their names would be on the
Common Roll but on voting day only five of their names appeared. The other 85
students were left disappointed and angry. This was a common experience. In the
Highlands, what Bill Standish has called “gunpoint” democracy was rife with presiding
officers being forced to sign ballot papers while facing down the barrel of a gun
(Standish 1996).1
The police were outnumbered and outgunned and the army had to be
called in to try to bring about a semblance of order in some provinces such as Southern
Highlands and Enga Provinces.
This paper discusses the present-day political significance of Christianity and the
churches in Papua New Guinea against the background of political unrest and confusion
in which the 2002 election was conducted.
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