At the close of nomination last week Thursday 4^th of March 2021 at 4:00 pm, saw a total of 42 candidates nominated to contest the Moresby North West Open electorate By - Election. Eleven (11) nominees contested under a Party banner while the rest as independent candidates. Amongst the male contestants was a lone female candidate and former Community Development Secretary Anna Kavana Bais who was endorsed under the People’s party political banner.

The order of draw was deferred to 18th of March 2021. As result the candidates are not allocated with their Box numbers, hence they must not host any campaign until their box number are assigned to them on the  18th of March. The reasons behind the deferral was because of the recent upsurge of Covid – 19 cases in the city and the reverence to late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare as the nation is at two weeks of mourning.

The final total number of candidates that nominated at the close of nominations on Thursday 4^th of March 2021 at 4:00 pm are as follows:

Polling for Moresby North West By – Election starts on 15^th May and ends on 29^th  May, while counting will be for 21 days starting before 31^st May. Writ will be returned on or before 10^th June 2021 to officially conclude the by-election.

Meanwhile, with the alarming surge of new Covid-19 cases in NCD (706) thus bringing the national total of confirmed cases to 1670 as of 7^th March 2021, I strongly appeal to the public, especially candidates, supporters and voters to strictly observe all Covid 19 measures at this time. A Covid – 19 officer will be included in the polling team to ensure voters follow precautionary measures during polling. In addition PNGEC and National Control center (NCC) for Covid 19 had held consultation on how both parties can work together to train officers and deliver Covid 19 safety awareness messages to voters during this election period.

“I will issue specific instructions to the Returning Officer, Assistant Returning Officers and Temporary Electoral Workers (TEWs) to abide by the mandatory requirements in wearing face masks, observe and apply physical distancing, personal hygiene and keeping crowds to no more than 100 persons during the election process.”