The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, constituted an Observer Group for the 2012 Papua New Guinea National Elections following an invitation from the Government of Papua New Guinea. It is my honour and privilege to have been asked to lead the Group and to be here in the country for these important elections.The Commonwealth Observer Group has been present in Papua New Guinea since 16 June 2012. During this time we have met with a wide range of stakeholders, including the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC), the Integrity Commission, representatives of political parties, civil society, media, the international community, and other national and international observer groups. Commonwealth teams have observed voting in all four regions and 16 of PNG’s 22 provinces. Our teams were also able to observe some counting in four provinces and the National Capital District. While deployed, our observers met with electoral officials, police, candidates, scrutineers, and ordinary voters in order to build up a larger picture of the conduct of the electoral process.