By TONY SII
Police in Port Moresby will not hesitate to arrest fellow police officers who are found campaigning for candidates in the National Election.
Hohola police station commander Ben Kua sounded this warning while addressing candidates for the Port Moresby Northwest electorate during the drawing of their box numbers last Friday.
“Your friends or family members who are serving police officers have the right to support and vote for you but you are not supposed to give them money or vehicle to campaign for you; the command will not allow that. That is illegal and police will arrest police and this will then affect the candidate involved,” Mr Kua said.
Second-in-charge of the police election operations in National Capital District Ben Isakuma reiterated the warning adding that candidates too will not escape from the hand of the law if they fail to comply with the law on the national election.
“If we catch a candidate doing dirty politics and dirty campaign the law will come down hard on you,” Mr Isakuma said.
“If your supporters are causing nuisance, they will be arrested – take it from here.
“Police will be on the patrol and monitoring every polling booth and if we find any illegal activity we will remove those responsible. So please, abide by law and we make this election free, fair and safe for everyone.”
Mr Kua said the candidates have a duty to abide by the rule of law in this election and must ensure their supporters too understand this important point.