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.
• The Prime 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. The members are elected through a Limited Preferential Voting (LPV) system.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: National Alliance Party (NA)
  • Leader: Michael SOMARE
  • Seats won in last election: 19
• Party: New Generation Party (NGP)
  • Leader: Bart PHILEMON
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: United Resources Party (URP)
  • Leader: Tim NEVILLE
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Papua New Guinea Party (PNGP)****
  • Leader: Mekere MORAUTA
  • Seats won in last election: 13
• Party: People's Progress Party (PPP)
  • Leader: Byron CHAN
  • Seats won in last election: 8
• Party: Papua and Niugini Union Party (PANGU)
  • Leader: Rabbie NAMALIU
  • Seats won in last election: 6
• Party: People's Action Party (PAP)
  • Leader: Moses MALADINA
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Party: People's Labor Party (PLP)
  • Leader: Ekis ROPENU
  • Seats won in last election: 4

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 6,387,470 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 3,938,839 (May 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,129,942 (2007)

·         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 2007 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: 958,120 (est.)