Yesterday I was having a really interesting discussion with someone on the PMV bus home from work, suddenly one of those election candidate’s convoy’s jolted us into silence with that loud, annoying (and totally POINTLESS) music.

I asked to no one in particular (which means all 40 passengers on that 25 seater bus) why candidates think it is so important to hire many vehicles and fill them with their (so-called) supporters. It makes no sense (to me, at least) unless all those people are for security purposes and SERIOUSLY if you need 400 plus people to ensure your security then you should reconsider standing for elections (if more people want you dead then elected -what chances do you have of implementing your said policies).

I got a chorus of replies to my question but the one that stuck in my mind was one wise looking man’s answer. This man-of-wisdom compared supporters to a clan or tribe bringing their daughter or sister (i.e. their candidate) to her husband’s house (i.e. the general public). He said that it was their way of showing their candidates worth/significance to other intending candidates. FINALLY, I eventually saw his point but I don’t think it helps a candidates campaign when people see him flanked by hundreds of his supporters.

Election period. That Hallowed period of craziness is well and truly underway in Papua New Guinea. In the nations capital you can tell it’s election period because of a daily cacophony from those 100 thousand Kina worth Toyota Landcruisers that annoy the heck out of baby sitters that are trying to put their charges to sleep during the day.

This year promises to be just as – if not MORE exciting than all the other previous election periods put together! Not only is there an ongoing political tug-of-war that the judicial arm of the government has decided to get enmeshed in (Re: CJ wants to make Somare PM, Namah storms courthouse with his SWAT team to arrest CJ for sedition), but also the sheer number of candidates (4000 PLUS) is just jaw dropping for a country that has only 109 seats available in parliament and 22 provinces. On the other hand we have over 800 tribes so maybe we need 4000 (plus) candidates to evenly represent the tribes.

To add to that craziness is the fact that some people not only have Election fever but are also infected with the ‘State of Origin’ fever! You would think that the elections take precedence but - NO! These past days you will notice the driver’s candidate of choice poster on one side of their car and the team of their choice’s flag attached to the rearview mirror – flapping away in the breeze. This morning the bus stops (in Port Moresby) had the regular hang-abouts, the work commuters, the buai bisnis men/women and the state of origin casualties who looked like they’d been run over by several herds of wild pigs.

There are a variety of individuals, from all walks of life, that have put their hand up to represent their people. Some genuinely want to ‘make a change for the better’ and others want to ‘make some better change’. Hopefully most of us see through the smoke screen and fancy fanfare and vote for people who are of the “make a change for the better’ variety.

Personally - I hope that whomever you decide to put down the 1,2 and 3 for will do the least amount of damage to our people in the next five years.

On a final note apparently the candidate that gets voted 2 most often ends up being the victor in the LPV system. Go figure aye?