Our 2022 Q3 Newsletter Is Out Now!

Dear Members and Friends,

The third quarter of this year was focused on reflecting on the constitutional aspirations of Papua New Guinea.

As the country conducted its tenth National General Election since independence, we fielded over 300 observers across all 4 regions, in a total of 20 provinces. TIPNG’s observers were accredited with the PNG Electoral Commission and were comprised of volunteers from across the country. We are grateful to all of them for committing their time to defend democracy in PNG.

Following the observation, we issued a summary paper which contained the stark observation that the 2022 National General Election has continued the trend of deterioration in the quality of elections in PNG. In the paper, we called for increase in transparency and integrity, to restore public trust in the electoral process.

Our call for transparency was re-emphasized in our commemoration of International Access to Information Day. We marked the day by calling for the provisions on Open Data in the Digital Government Act 2022 to be supported by state agencies, in line with our constitutional right to access public documents.

In September our team took the opportunity of Independence Day celebrations, to visit the former House of Assembly, the National Parliament and the National Museum. We learned about our history, our political aspirations and the importance of our national identity in the fight against corruption. These reflections on national identity and national integrity, were also a feature of our Active Civic Engagement (ACE) workshop conducted with youth partners in Bougainville, and occurring in the same month.

As you read through this issue of our newsletter, you will see time and again, people coming together to stand up for what is right and proper, and to stand against corruption. We thank you for your interest in our work, and hope we can depend on your support in that ongoing fight.

Yours in partnership,

Arianne Kassman