Elections seasons in Papua New Guinea is usually a very tumultuous time for all involved. Tumultuous in that, it has since independence evolved as a kind of modern day tribal warfare fought between various tribes across a nation of 800 plus language groupings and an equivalent number of cultural groupings.
Over the course of time, this Western process of appointing leaders has been modified to align with elements of Melanesian culture, and lately it has been hijacked to suit and validate the modern Melanesian big man status.
This year, our nation witnessed the worst elections in the country’s 47year history. The overt disregard of the process and existence of rampant corruption, violence and election related deaths over the course of this season has been unprecedented. This has been perpetrated by powerful men and groups within our society so that this process can be favorable to their insatiable appetite for money and power.
In this article, I will try to convey what I’ve seen and experienced to be the story of the candidate in the part of highlands I’m from. And hopefully this will give you a glimpse if at all some idea of what is behind the candidate and why there’s so much riding on a candidate come elections.
A side note: the candidate in this article is referred to as men as that is how much of our Nations history has revolved around.
Close to election period, there is often a lot of chatter in the villages about who will be the likely candidate to carry this coveted shield of leadership, for the tribes sake.
Each open electorate is a battlefield for the various tribes in it, each tribe feels the need to present a warrior, to which a candidate nominates himself (depending on internal tribal politics) to this field. So there usually is a gathering held in the village to ask the prominent men in the village who will contest, at which a candidate is finalized and the allegiance of the village and the surrounding community is confirmed.
The election season begins at earliest, two years before the national elections where awareness begins for intending candidates. Usually, the candidate starts sponsoring community events or sponsor sports teams in local competitions, donating uniforms to sporting clubs, this is usually to rally the support of the youth from 12 years old and upwards since team sports is a place where tribal mentality is affirmed.
Conversations about ‘Hanmak’ ensue, about who, (usually a son) has raised his hand more to carry the burdens of the the community affairs ie spent more of his personal finance, resources, or used his position of employment to benefit people in the community or district in times of great need. These times of great need are tied in with customary obligations of death, marriage, compensations and recently enabling other younger tribes people to gain employment.
A candidate’s ability to commiting resources doesn’t however, mean they provide the wisest or most sensible direction of leadership. Too many times we’ve seen overly resourced people bulldoze individual agendas over the communal good and in effect disrupt community.
However, great or small the “hanmak” maybe, the quintessential jest of this person is that they have achieved some standing in the community or material worth manifesting. I once heard a person say that all a potential candidate needs to do is buy a new land cruiser and he has the attention of his community as a valid candidate and of the outer community of his tenure in the race. In some peoples minds the ownership of a land cruiser validates a persons seat at the table of potential leaders. Like our ancestors who were shown shiny objects and in their ignorance gave away huge tracts of land it seems the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree even in this golden age of information.
In Melanesia, the leader must possess a certain level of extroverted charisma that will relate to people.
People want leaders who will initiate personal conversation with them, who will acknowledge their place in the world ie their tribe I once heard of a great leader when he travels into remote places in his conversation for context he will call out sacred places and streams. For the average person who still has primal attachment to his /her land this is the ultimate compliment. People aren’t sold on your policies, not so much as them identifying with you, and that means putting yourself out there to learn and interact with people. So an introvert is an antithesis to the Melanesian idea of a leader.
Elections are a time where the “crazies”come out with their fantastical ideas about how this country should go. As far as policies go, the pragmatic ideas of basic service delivery of health, Education and law and order, are mediocre and secondary compared to the elaborate schemes these candidates conjure.
The literacy rate in Papua New Guinea is low, so often intending candidates will use peoples ignorance are used as potions to conjure elaborate ideas with no practical application. For instance there was once a candidate who headed a party who promised that if his party won majority and went to Parliament they would build freeways connecting all the New Guinea islands. More recently I heard a candidate say he had no policy as politicians lie, he will only come up with policy when he becomes MP.
Then there is the undeniable familial connection which is a core identity of Melanesians. This network goes back generations and like a spiders web spreads across tribes and villages. All an intending candidate does really is reconnect these intricate sleeping cells of relatives (usually by marriage of a sister, aunt,niece, grand aunt , cousin etc) into another clan or village,she and her nuclear family then serves as a cell, a supporter who actively campaigns within her community to garner support from her in-laws and their community.
She and her husband are resourced with standard punchline of the her candidates abilities and vision, food and money on occasions to dish to the newly converted supporters, her family will also erect a haus campaign. This becomes a nerves center for this candidate in the community, supporters gather during campaign season where news and discussion and strategized to mobilize community votes occur. In the evenings They serve coffee, tea , betelnut to supporters in turn becomes very costly for the hosts, sometimes the candidates will chip in but rarely.
The ultimate mark of respect is the slaughter of pig for an intending candidate by supporters
This becomes a drain to the pocket but since she has put her and her family out there in support of her relative, the family will slaughter an animal usually a pig or goat to distribute to the community. This action implies that should their candidate win, they through her will be the contact point to the new MP. The slaughter of the animal also is a significant cultural cue for support.
Candidates have been known to invoke supporters through marriage as well. Some men have multiple partners across villages or force relatives to marry across the district so it’s easier to garner reliable support through his in-laws. However, should the candidate loose, he has to return the favour once extended in the election either in finance or resources to the supporter such as school fees or cultural obligations that the supporter might face. So the candidate ends up facing undue financial pressure.
Not all supporters cash in on this favour from the loosing candidate, just some. However, repayment of supporter’s contribution become like the proverbial milstones around his neck and pushes into the ocean. This maybe the number one source of stress on candidates lives post elections eventuating in death as well. A lot of candidates have died after elections.
For us, the candidate doesn’t have to be a person qualified to legislate policies. It’s about being the person who will uphold Melanesian practices in a western system. It’s about compensation to the candidate and his ardent supporters, what was years of hard work of building relationships and spending resources from the public purse. It really is about the take back and restoring the pride of his people and creating pathways for his people and clan, tribal politics.
Today the process of electing leaders in modern Melanesian society has morphed into something that im sure is a far cry from what Papua New Guineas founding fathers aspired for us.
Thanks Prisilla. Very informative.