Violence in the PNG elections is the result of broken systems that Australia cannot ignore | Miranda Forsyth and Gordon Peake
Unrest has forced us to ask whether PNG’s institutions have been so eroded that people feel they have no option but to take matters into their own hands
Elections in Papua New Guinea are notoriously volatile and dangerous. But this year’s elections have involved violence, intimidation, corruption as well as administrative ineptitude on what looks like an exceptional scale.
The Commonwealth observer team on the ground has called for an urgent review of the electoral process, noting almost half of eligible voters may have been disenfranchised.