The role of tradition in PNG polls

By Ratih Hardjono

PORT MORESBY (JP): It has been said that you only appreciate the value of democracy when it is taken away from you -- when you no longer have the opportunity to change governments through the secrecy of the ballot box.

It would be easy to criticize the current PNG election, but if the result is a peaceful change of government, which looks likely, at least one purpose of a democratic election has been achieved.

The survival of the Westminster system Australia left behind has obvious disadvantages for PNG. One is the traditional way of life most people follow, which makes the whole concept of a "national" government beyond the reach of many voters. Illiteracy is about 50 percent and subsistence farming remains dominant, outside the modern economy.

Nature has produced magnificent scenery, but has also impeded access, especially in the Highlands. Villages may be close to each other yet be mutually suspicious. Some of the Highland people did not encounter foreigners until the 1930s and an ethos of survival of the fittest can still be detected.

PNG has only been independent for 22 years. Nationalism as a concept has only taken root among the educated elite of Port Moresby. The rest of the population lives in great diversity, speaking some 700 different languages.

The inaccessible geography and short history of independence explains the absence of national unity. On the coast, a common language is Motu. In other parts of the country "Pisin", a language which derives most of its vocabulary from English, is commonly used. Although nearly everyone understands Pisin, most disagree that Pisin should become the national language. One reason is that it is not completely indigenous and is left over from colonialism. The UN has condemned Pisin as "baby talk" and demeaning.

For most people in PNG, the center of the world is their village and the village wantok system rules their lives. Wantok means speaking the one language. The main rule is that everyone in the one wantok system sticks together. And, when one member benefits, he or she must share it with all members of their wantok.

The wantok system is local and does not encompass national political figures. But villagers are aware that corruption is rife among members of parliament. People believe that one way of getting power and money quickly is to become a member of parliament. It is very noticeable in a small society when someone suddenly becomes rich. Public transport in the Highlands is still scarce, and people walk everywhere. When they see a member of parliament driving around in an expensive new four-wheel drive, this undoubtedly influences their understanding of what the role of a member of parliament really is. Traveling around the Highlands, many people said to me that the quickest way of getting rich is to become a member of parliament. Understanding the true role of a member of parliament in representing the people according to the Westminster system, has been sidestepped.

There are about 2,200 candidates running in this election, with almost every village nominating a candidate. "Why not?" a 30-year-old woman working in Goroka said to me. "When our candidate wins we will demand a bitumen road." Asked how she will vote, she said: "It will depend on who my father tells me to vote for." People in her village have been involved in a bargaining process with several candidates.

A young man in Wabag said that during the campaign some people in his village received as much as two to three hundred kinas for their support. In another village, a candidate dropped a couple of thousand kinas to be distributed among people and families who will vote for him.

Another problem with this election is of course the electoral list with its large number of unknown names. The electoral office said that when the list was being compiled, villages competed with each other to add more names of their villagers on the list. This was to ensure their candidates won, in accordance with the wantok system and their survival as a group. From the start, the electoral office knew about this and tried very hard to correct the problem. To start another new electoral list would have been impossible and too expensive, but one reliable estimate is that the list includes as many as one million names.

With all the handicaps that exist in this election, the accidental marriage of the traditional system and Westminster democracy, and inefficiency if not corruption in electoral procedures, voting has not been impeded. This PNG election has become a halfway meeting point for two very different systems.

On one hand, the democratic Westminster system gives every person in the community equal rights to vote in the community. The basis of this is the right of every individual to choose a government. On the other hand, the concept of the individual is an alien concept to the PNG communities. The wantok system, which is a collection of individual rights, is supreme in the community. So a blend of the Westminster and wantok system has occurred, although it is yet to be perfected.

The tension between the national and local community will be with PNG for some time. Early election results have shown that the people of PNG want change. Some good, high quality and honest people have won. Looking at all the problems the country is facing, the people of PNG have decided to opt for a clean government and an end to corruption. This is no small matter.

The writer is a correspondent for the Jakarta daily newspaper Kompas.

Window A: With all the handicaps that exist in this election, the accidental marriage of the traditional system and Westminster democracy, and inefficiency if not corruption in electoral procedures, voting has not been impeded.