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AP communication
Canberra, Australia (AP) — Voters began balloting in the Papua New Guinea general election on Monday, creating a coalition government to govern one of the most populous and diverse countries in the South Pacific over the next five years. Decided.
The main candidates for the new government are current Prime Minister James Marape and his predecessor Peter O'Neill, who resigned in 2019.
Voting takes weeks, and the composition of the government among more than 50 parties competing for 118 seats will not be known until Congress is held next August.
Since Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia in 1975, the elections of 9 million countries have been undermined by violence, fraud and bribery.
On Monday, police commissioner Joseph Tondop urged citizens not to sell votes to candidates out of 3,625 contesting candidates.
Candidates pay the poor on a regular basis to vote for them.
Tondop has assured voters that security forces are "ready to ensure that this election is truly free, fair, safe and transparent," a police statement said. rice field.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse tribal society of more than 800 languages, mostly self-sufficient farmers.
