At stake in this election:

• 109 seats in the National Parliament

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sir Michael SOMARE
• Assembly: Papua New Guinea has a unicameral National Parliament with 109 seats.

* The Queen is represented by governor general Sir Paulius MATANE.

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen is hereditary.
• ThePrime Minister is appointed by the governor-general.
• In the National Parliament 109 members are elected through an alternative voting system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** 89 members are elected from open electorates and 20 from provincial electorates.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: People's Progress Party (PPP)
  • Leader: Michael NALI
  • Seats won in last election: 16
  • Seats won in this election: 8
• Party: Pangu Pati
  • Leader: Chris HAIVETA
  • Seats won in last election: 15
  • Seats won in this election: 6
• Party: National Alliance (NA)
  • Leader: Michael SOMARE
  • Seats won in last election: 15
  • Seats won in this election: 19
• Party: People's Democratic Movement (PDM)
  • Leader: Sir Mekere MORAUTA
  • Seats won in last election: 9
  • Seats won in this election: 13
• Party: People's National Congress (PNC)
  • Leader: Simon KAUMI
  • Seats won in last election: 7
  • Seats won in this election: 2
• Party: People's Action Party (PAP)
  • Leader: Ted DIRO
  • Seats won in last election: 5
  • Seats won in this election: 5
• Party: United Party (UP)
  • Leader: Rimbiuk PATO
  • Seats won in last election: 3
  • Seats won in this election: 3
• Party: National Party (NP)
  • Leader: Michael MEL
  • Seats won in last election: 1
  • Seats won in this election: 3
• Other Parties
  • Seats won in this election: 50

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held June 14-28, 1997.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,653,284 (2002)
• Registered Voters: N/A

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,770,998 (2002)

·         Is Papua New Guinea a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Papua New Guinea ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (12 January 1995)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 1 (following the 2002 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 158 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Papua New Guinea a signatory to CRPD: Yes (2 June 2011)

·         Has Papua New Guinea ratified CRPD: Yes (26 September 2013)

·         Population with a disability: 847,992 (est.)