2 Feb 2006

LPV means election related violence in PNG is a thing of the past - Transparency International

9:27 pm on 2 February 2006

The anti corruption group, Transparency International, says a new preferential voting system in Papua New Guinea has dramatically reduced election related killings.

The Limited Preferential Vote system was brought in after the last general election four years ago replacing first-past-the-post.

That system was scrapped because of concerns MPs were being elected with less than ten percent of the vote which they could often achieve by relying on clan support.

TI's chairman, Mike Manning, says his organisation is confident that the LPV system has made electoral violence a thing of the past.

"In the by elections in the Highlands that have been held since the 2002 elections under the LPV system there has been little or no election related violence, whereas in the 2002 elections there was more than one death a day during the election campaign."