Opposition vows to challenge increase of election nomination fee

The Opposition is set to challenge the government’s proposal to increase the nomination fee, from K1000 to K10,000, in the Supreme Court if passed, says Opposition Leader Don Polye.

Polye says they will take the matter to the court if the government uses its numerical strength to bulldoze it in Parliament.

Given that K400 million was allocated for the General Elections in the 2017 Budget, Polye questions why Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is hell-bent on proposing what he described as ‘unconstitutional and draconian law to cripple a certain group of people’.

“The Ombudsman Commission took a similar matter to the court when a past government then legislated to increase the nomination fee from K100 to K1000,” stated Polye.

He believes the proposal will deny the rights of citizens to contest the election next year; it will limit a vast majority of aspiring candidates to contest the 111 seats in the country.

Polye has brushed aside O’Neill’s justification that the increase is to offset a lack of funding for the Electoral Commission.

He stated that they (Opposition) had won several other cases against the government, citing the recall of Parliament and the Manus asylum cases as examples.