Papua New Guinea has initiated plans to request 200 defence personnel from Timor-Leste to help supervise PNG’s general election next year.
PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape said the request is part of a broader plan to build a 1000-strong multinational election security and observation team.
This would feature soldiers from Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to a statement from Marape’s office, Solomon Islands has already agreed to join the deployment.
“External support is vital to our strategy to lengthen actual polling time, allowing our citizens a peaceful environment to choose their leaders,” Marape said.
Marape held talks last week with Timor-Leste’s President Dr José Ramos-Horta on the margins of Vanuatu’s 46th Independence anniversary celebrations in Port Vila.
Their talks in the Vanuatu capital included a focus on advancing regional security – both leaders also met with Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Jotham Napat.
PNG’s last few general elections have been hampered by persistent problems including ballot fraud, mistakes on the electoral roll and violence during polling and vote-counting periods.
Marape’s statement said a cabinet paper would soon formalise the structure for the regional contributions to PNG election security and observation before official letters are transmitted to lock in the contingent.
