Sir John Thomas Pundari condemns election violence in Enga
Sir John Pundari speaking from Enga said the recent spate of unprovoked criminal activities carried out by a few known candidates in Kompiam Ambum has resulted in vital government properties worth millions of kina being destroyed.
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| Sir John Thomas Pundari condemns election violence in Enga [Photo burning infrastructure in Kompiam/Photo by Teddy Piagari/fb] |
Pundari has called on all political leaders from Enga to work together as leaders of the Province to address the election related violence that is tearing the province apart and has left many families displaced.
“We cannot blame the Electoral Commission and security personnel for criminal activities carried out by candidates or supporters. We need to come out clear and condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms.
“My district has lost Government properties worth hundreds of millions of Kina and I am shattered for my people and the public servants who have fled to seek refuge.”
“Kompiam Ambum never experienced such violence in the past election years.”
“This disease of violence and destruction has been introduced by power hungry individuals with sinister motives against the Liberal Party and my people’s rights to express themselves in the democratic process.”
“The state assets that have gone down in flames will take time to rebuild; and I grieve for the future of our younger generation, who are tomorrow’s leaders and elites of the district. They are now deprived of their rights to education and other basic government services.”
“We cannot blame the Electoral Commission and security personnel for criminal activities carried out by our candidates or supporters. We need to discipline them and condemn their actions.”
“The sick attitude of blame game and cover up statements through media to score political points must stop. The people need us, as their leaders to provide appropriate leadership during this time of chaos and violence in the Province and our people need us to show the true color of our leadership.”
“The People’s Party founder, Governor Peter Ipatas is a part of the current Marape Government and cannot continue to blame the government which he is a part of, by shifting blame to the EC or the Police.”
“𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.“ 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. “𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬.”
Sir John who is in Enga said that if there was any complaint of ballot box hijacking, leaders and candidates should know there is a process in place for dispute.
“Where is their evidence? Hearsay is not evidence. They need to present evidence to the Electoral Commission and not through violence and destruction by use of guns and criminal acts.”
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.”
“My supporters and I will cooperate and support investigations into these atrocities conducted by police after the elections.”
Sir John said that these people who have caused destruction of state assets and terrorized the people are nothing short of criminals. They must be investigated and arrested by the police.”
“Leaders supporting such violence must be ashamed of ourselves. There is no justification of any kind for this behaviour. From reports I received from my Scrutineers, generally polling was conducted well in most of the wards in my electorate thanks to the Electoral Commission and the security forces.
“I feel for my people who have lost lives and properties in this unprovoked and unexpected conflict we were not prepared for. Our call for support from the security forces fell short. We also understand that the security forces were stretched and could not do much.”
“During these difficult times of sorrow and pain, I pray for the innocent mothers and children who have been displaced and traumatized.”
“I also thank those who are keeping us in their prayers. Only God knows from the beginning to the end; and will ensure justice is done to the people of Kompiam Ambum.”
“The situation is highly volatile and it is unsafe to count in Enga, therefore I humbly ask the EC to consider counting outside of the Province and consider each district and their election related issues on a case by case basis.”
Sir John Pundari concluded by saying, “A lie today will be destroyed by the truth tomorrow.”
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