Caption: (left
seated) RPPC Commission Chairman Andrew Trawen, and Registrar Dr Gulu, posing
with party executives who received their funds.
By MATTHEW VARI
OVER a K1 million will be given out as funding to political
parties with members in parliament, last week and this week, as per the
requirements of the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and
Candidates (OLIPPAC).
Five parties from a total of 17 approved received their
funding of K10,000 per MP from the Registry of Political Parties and Candidates
(RPPC).
Upon meeting the requirement of submitting their annual
returns for 2013- the first five of the PNG Party, Our Development Party,
Peoples Movement for Change Party, United Resources Party, National Alliance
Party, Stars Alliance Party, and New Generation Party.
Before handing out the cheques to party executives, Chairman
of RPPC Commission and Electoral Commissioner, Andrew Trawen, reminded the
parties on the importance of submitting their returns on time.
“It is important that you comply with returns submissions
because we noticed that some parties (28 in total) have not complied,” the
chairman said.
“They have not put in their returns and it is a big concern
for the commission and I would like to thank the party officials for complying
and putting their returns on time.”
“You all have complied with the provisions of the organic
law, and you have given your returns for the year ending, and in this case 2013
I would like to thank you all.”
“If you comply with the law there is no problem, we will all
work to make sure that the political party system works.”
Registrar of Political Parties Dr Alphonse Gelu in his
remarks spoke of the importance of the funding to parties and also the delays
in handing out the funds due to the slow response from parties in submitting
their returns.
“This is a moment that most political parties look forward
to, and the funding you are going to be given today is from the Central Fund to
fund your administrative activities,” Gelu said.
“Many have been asking when we should be paying this and now
it is September. Usually we do these things right after the 31st of March every
year.”
“We could not do that because of the level of response we had
from party officials- it is your responsibility as very important people within
the parties that you must respond to the requirement and meet the deadline as
indicated in the organic law.”
He also informed the executives of the changes that were to
see the amount for each member MP with a seat to increase by 100 percent when
the proposed amendments to OLLIPAC are passed by Parliament.
“Here you
will find that as per the OLIPPAC the funding is K10,000 per member of parliament.
Under the revised organic law we decided to increase that funding to K20,000
per MP so you will expect more under the revised OLIPPAC.”
“The party
will basically benefit from this funding and that is something that we are
still waiting for.”
Dr Gelu also
explained that in terms of the movement of MPs to other parties and which
funding their party affiliation goes to- he said that provision within the
organic law stipulated that funds be given only after a period of 6 months of
active participation in the MP’s new party.
“One other
point to raise here is the point relating to the movement of members of
parliament, as you will recall, there have been a number of movements of MPs
leaving one party and joining another,” he said.
“The organic
law is very clear on that- you will find that some of might not receive the
amount that you thought that you are supposed to receive, because under the
OLIPPAC it states that once a member moves, they must be part of that party they
have moved to for 6 months and must be an active member of that party.”
“Usually in
that period as well if you do not qualify for that 6 months- what will happen
is that the party that that member has just left will not get any funding and
that party that that member has joined will not also get any funding, until
such time the 6 months is achieved.”
Gelu pointed
out that parties who did not submit returns for two consecutive years will face
automatic deregistration from the registry.
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