Chan commands lead as New Ireland by-election hits critical elimination stage

Former Namatanai MP and People’s Progress Party [PPP] candidate, Byron Chan, has maintained a commanding grip on the New Ireland Provincial by-election as counting entered its most volatile phase today.

Following the fourth round of eliminations, Chan remains the man to beat, sitting comfortably at the top of the pile with 19,606 votes. However, with the Absolute Majority set at 23,336, the race is far from over as the hunt for preference votes intensifies.

The count, overseen by Provincial Returning Officer Benjamin Kliawi, reveals a widening gap between the veteran politician and the chasing pack of Kepas Aruban Wali with 12,926 and Joshua Takin Soi [8,682] running in third spot.

While Chan holds a lead of nearly 7,000 votes over his nearest rival, independent Kepas Aruban Wali, the distribution of preferences from the bottom-tier candidates will decide if Chan can cross the absolute majority.

A total of 46,957 ballots remain in play, but the exhausted vote count, ballots where voters failed to list secondary preferences is a looming shadow. From exclusions three and four alone, 74 ballots were tossed out as exhausted.

Fourth-placed independent Chris Gai [2,437] and Our Party’s Hosea Kalis [1,814] are currently in the crosshairs for the next round of exclusions.

Counting was briefly suspended at 3:30pm to allow officials and scrutineers to reset for the high-stakes Exclusion Five at 4:30pm.

With the Absolute Majority currently calculated at 23,299 following the latest adjustments, the pressure is on the PPP camp to secure enough second and third preferences to close the 3,693-vote gap.