Page 10 - IB January 2022

Outlook Outlook

Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama Pacific Islands Forum Secretary Gen- Australian foreign minister and minister PNG Prime Minister James Marape
eral Henry Puna for women, Marise Payne

OUTLOOK 2022

THE YEAR AHEAD IN THE PACIFIC POLITICS

By Sadhana Sen name specified in their birth certificates. The amendment im-
pacts married women in particular, who may have previously
For the third year running, COVID-19 is defining and disrupt- used their married names. They are now required to either
ing life, leadership and governance in the Pacific. Compound- re-register to vote under their birth certificate name or to get
ed by climate change-related flooding and the devastating an amendment done to their birth certificate by adding their
Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption, 2022 is off to married name or preferred name.
a challenging start. Some Pacific nations are now grappling Seven women, supported by the Fiji Women’s Rights Move-
with their first cases of community transmission of COVID-19, ment and the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, have since filed
regional meetings have been deferred, and schools opened, a Constitutional challenge against the new law, claiming it
then closed in many places. In other Pacific nations, borders discriminates on the grounds of sex, gender and marital sta-
finally opened, giving much hope for economic rebuilding, tus, and that requiring this change a year from elections will
only to close again. Meanwhile, the rollout of vaccinations essentially disenfranchise thousands of women from exercis-
and boosters continues at a widely-varying pace. ing their right to vote.
Papua New Guinea heads to its tenth national elections this
Pacific nations go to the polls year with electoral challenges of the past remaining. Updat-
Four Pacific island nations are scheduled to hold elections ing its roll using the 2021 census (as hoped for by govern-
this year; Cook Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. ment), but questions over funding and the capacity to do so in
Australians will also go to the polls. All are likely to be highly its statistics office is concerning analysts.
charged events, given COVID-19 management challenges and If the Port Moresby North West (MNW) by-elections is any
the subsequent hardships experienced in many countries. indication, candidate numbers for the national elections are
In Fiji, the Supervisor of Elections office has been mired expected to be at an all-time high, with lengthier counting
in controversy. First it attempted to de-register a long time time, and many elimination rounds under its Limited Prefer-
Opposition member of Parliament, Niko Nawaikula, over the ential voting system.
registration and use of his name. He lost his parliamentary A strong lobby is hoping for the passage of temporary
seat but appealed. When on appeal the Solicitor General’s special measures to ensure better representation of women
office lost the case, the SG Sharvada Sharma, an officer with in the male-dominated PNG parliament. If it fails, the onus
24 years of legal service to the Fijian government, was first will fall on political parties to field women candidates in safe
suspended then fired from his position on the complaint of seats to return more women candidates to Parliament.
the Supervisor of Elections. Sharma is now challenging his The leadership battle seems likely to be between incum-
dismissal before the courts. bent James Marape and the man he replaced in 2019, Peter
The Nawaikula matter prompted an amendment to the O’Neill. While electioneering in PNG is said to be largely
Electoral Registration of Voters Act which requires people localised, national issues likely to feature in the campaigns
now registering to vote to ensure they are registered with the include the state of the economy, growth and job creation, as

10 Islands Business, January 2022