Ileksen: Politics in Papua New Guinea Dennis ORourke, 1979

Ileksen is the extraordinary companion piece to Yumi Yet, recording the excitement of politics in Papua New Guinea during the first election after colonial rule. The villagers learn the Westminster electoral system in their first independent election ( ileksen is Melanesian Pidgin for election ); the dominant impression is one of chaos: a land with rich cultural traditions and very specific economic and political problems striving to fit itself into an imported form of democracy. Without media experts to package their campaigns, Papua New Guinea s politicians employ a wide variety of votegetting techniques. One, in full tribal dress and feather headgear, uses a handheld loudspeaker to make a simple point: Forget the others , while another, more reserved, opts for genteel cups of tea with the headmistress of a mission school.