Two senior Pacific journalists are part of the Commonwealth Monitoring Group observing the general elections in Papua New Guinea.

They are Johnson Honimae, CEO of Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), and Makereta Komai of Fiji, who is Editor in Chief of the Pacific Islands News Association.

The elections began on 2 July and will continue for 21 days. The nine-member group, led by former Nauru President Baron Waqa, will be in Papua New Guinea until 31 July, when the final results are expected to be announced.

The group, which includes specialists in politics, elections, civil society and academia, is observing the opening, voting, closing, counting and results management processes.

It has been meeting various stakeholders, including political parties, the police, civil society groups, citizen observer and monitor groups and the media.

The group will issue an interim statement of its preliminary findings on 24 July, followed by a final report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General.