General elections were held in the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New G ...

between 17 February and 16 March 1968.They all want to be in P-NG's new Assembly
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1968, p25

Electoral system

Constitutional developments prior to the elections saw the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

expanded from 64 members to 94. The number of members elected from general constituencies was increased from 44 to 69; the ten reserved constituencies (for non-indigenous candidates) were replaced by 15 regional constituencies in which candidates had to have at least at Intermediate Certificate of education, and the number of 'official' members (civil servants) remained at ten. The elections were held using

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

. An additional residency requirement for non-indigenous candidates was introduced; candidates had to have lived in the territory for at least five years before nomination day.P-NG's constitutional report skirts the vital issues
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1966, pp53–55 This requirement was waived for incumbent MHAs, allowing

Tony Voutas Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

(elected in a 1966 by-election) to defend his seat.

Campaign

A total of 484 candidates contested the 84 seats, with around 50 running in the 15 regional constituencies.Plenty of variety in P-NG's second general election
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1968, p24 Six political parties were involved; the All People's Party, the National Progress Party, the New Guinea Agriculture Reform Party, the

Pangu Party The Pangu Pati, also known as the Pangu Party or Papua and Niugini Union Pati, is a political party in Papua New Guinea. As of September 2019, the party had 23 of 111 seats in the National Parliament. History The party was founded in June 1967 ...

, the Territory Country Party and the United Democratic Party. Four constituencies had only one candidate, who were returned unopposed (

Tei Abal Sir Tei Abal (1932? – 1994) was a member of the parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between 1964 and 1982, during which time he both served as a government minister in several positions and was leader of the opposition. He was known as an un ...

in Wabag, Wesani Iwoksim in Upper Sepik, Paul Langro in West Sepik Regional and Ron Neville in Southern Highlands Regional). The main campaign issues in urban areas were wages and housing. In rural areas, the campaign focussed on improved agriculture and infrastructure.

Results

Only 22 of the 46 incumbents MHAs who stood for re-election were successful. The candidate leading in the first count was elected in 71 of the 80 contested seats. In Gumine, the candidate who finished sixth in the first count was elected after preferences were counted. Four under-secretaries lost their seat, including Zure Makili Zurecnuoc.Final P-NG election results bring spectacular changes of fortune for some
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', May 1968, pp20–21 Although party affiliations were unclear, the

was thought to have the most seats (between 12 and 20), with the All People's Party finishing second. The National Progress Party and United Democratic Party failed to win seats.

Aftermath

Following the elections, John Guise was elected Speaker, defeating Mick Casey and

Roy Ashton Howard Roy Ashton (17 April 1909 – 10 January 1995) was an Australian tenor, associated for a while with Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group, and make-up artist who became particularly associated with his work on the Hammer Horror films. B ...

. Seven ministerial members and eight assistant ministerial members were appointed by a House committee.They've got a ministerial system now
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', July 1968, p24

References

{{Papua New Guinean elections Papua 1968 in Papua New Guinea Elections in Papua New Guinea Election and referendum articles with incomplete results

Electoral system

Campaign

Results

Aftermath

See also

References