CIAO DATE: 05/2012
March 2012
Lowy Institute for International Policy
As Papua New Guinea gears up for the national election due to be held mid 2012, there is increasing concern that the electoral process will be marred by violence. With the country already gripped by a series of constitutional crises in the wake of the parliamentary election of Peter O’Neill as Prime Minister in August 2011, flawed elections will further dent public confidence in the government’s ability to uphold democratic principles. Authors Scott Flower and Jim Leahy sketch out the factors which could exacerbate tensions in the 2012 national elections and set out a series of recommended actions to avert the violence.
Resource link: The 2012 national elections in Papua New Guinea: averting violence [PDF] - 256K