THE National Alliance (NA) Party has endorsed former premier of New Ireland Province, Pedi Anis as its new candidate to contest the Kavieng Open seat.
Party president Stephen Pokawin declared this to over a thousand enthusiastic and proud NA supporters in a sea of red that flooded the Snafu oval in Kavieng town during a rally on the last day of nominations last Thursday.
This follows a last minute ditch recently by former NA strong man and Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey to Pangu Pati.
Mr Pokawin said the move came as a shock for the party; however this has not hindered the party’s spirit to field a vibrant and experienced candidate in Mr Anis from New Hanover for the Kavieng seat.
NA Secretary General and candidate for Namatanai Open, Walter D Schnaubelt who will be comfortably re-contesting the seat welcomed Mr Anis and the wealth of experience he will bring to team NA in New Ireland in the 2022 National General Elections.
“We need experienced people like Pedi Anis to provide guidance and advice to move us forward in our political aspirations in serving our people in the province.
He said NA is anticipating a clean sweep for the three seats in New Ireland with another strong contender for New Ireland Regional, Augustine Molonges who hails from the largest Sentral Niu Ailan LLG in Namatanai as it prepares to enter the campaign trail.
Mr Molonges has worked under Mr Schnaubelt for over 18 years was chosen in order to continue to provide government services to not only Namatanai district, but Kavieng district and New Ireland Province as a whole.
Mr Schnaubelt who is also the NA team leader for New Ireland Province is promoting the NA candidates using his track record of excellent performance in service delivery for his people of Namatanai district as the platform to contest the elections.
“When you vote SMA (Schnaubelt, Molonges, Anis) for the three seats in New Ireland you are rest assured that we will give you a “Double Dose Belhat Development” in terms of service delivery.
“What that means is when a church, school or health centre receives funding of a certain amount in an electorate the same amount will be added by the provincial government to enhance service delivery,” Mr Schnaubelt explained.
He said for example, if an electorate funds K10,000 for a school infrastructure project the provincial government will add another K10,000 to complete the project likewise other impact projects as well.
The NA New Ireland candidate’s respective box numbers includes; Walter Schnaubelt (27) for Namatanai Open, Pedi Anis (21) Kavieng Open and Augustine Molonges (11) for New Ireland Regional.