PNG leaders cautious ahead of Bougainville vote

Bougainvilleans will begin voting tomorrow in an historic referendum to decide if they want independence from Papua New Guinea.

Over a two week period they will be taking part in vote on whether to become independent or to settle for a greater degree of autonomy.

While it is a non-binding vote, it is seen as the culmination of the peace process that ended a bloody civil war in Bougainville.

The Post Courier reports that while the world waits in anticipation for the result national leaders have issued strong statements.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape was very apologetic about PNG not recognising the will and desire of Bougainvilleans in the past but said they now had the right to be heard.

To allow for the referendum to proceed was a commitment he made when he became prime minister, he said.

He is quoted in the newspaper saying the referendum is “the means by which the voices of the people of Bougainville will be heard. It is the basis on which the two governments will consult after the referendum has taken place.’

But Mr Marape has repeated earlier statements that political independence is meaningless without economic independence.

He said complex discussions and negotiations would take place after the referendum before any proposed political settlement is reached.

The man known as the Father of the Nation and three time prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, said he has a “heavy heart” about the referendum.

He has called for a united PNG for which he had always led and stood for as prime minister.

Sir Michael told the paper that, “as Bougainvilleans make their voices heard in the referendum, it is my hope that PNG remains ‘united and free’ in the aftermath of this historic poll.”

He said “our country has remained united for more than 40 years, which is an achievement in itself. So it with heavy hearts that the rest of our country awaits the decision that the people of Bougainville will be taking in the next couple of days.

Recent former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill described it as one of the most important public votes in the nation’s history and called for care in the decision-making by Bougainvilleans.

Peter O’Neill Photo: Supplied

Bougainville President John Momis appealed for people to respect the rule of law.

Bougainville President John Momis Photo: supplied

He said they had worked hard to abide by and effectively implement the three pillars of the Bougainville Peace Agreement; autonomy, weapons disposal and referendum.

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Dame Meg Taylor, who is Papua New Guinean, has sent best wishes.

She said she commends both governments on their commitment to lasting peace, and all the work done to ensure a free and fair vote.

The secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dame Meg Taylor. Photo: RNZ / Jamie Tahana

The Forum has an observer mission in Bougainville throughout polling and vote counting.

Source: RNZ

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via IFTTT November 23, 2019 at 01:21PM

Expectations high as Bougainville referendum gets underway

Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific Journalistjohnny.blades@rnz.co.nz

Polling for Bougainville’s independence referendum gets underway today.

The autonomous Papua New Guinea region’s non-binding referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Peace Agreement which formally ended hostilities in Bougainville’s civil war.

Bougainvilleans have entered into celebratory mode for this historic occasion. Bougainville flags are everywhere, festivities have broken out, and the mood around the region indicates that the favourite option on the ballot is number two: for independence, rather than greater autonomy within PNG.

The two week polling period starts in the main centres of Buka and Arawa as well as numerous remote locations and then will move around Bougainville progressively.

In coming days polling also gets underway in other parts of PNG and two locales in neighbouring countries – in Brisbane, Australia and Gizo in Solomon Islands.

Bad weather is threatening to delay the start of polling in Bougainville’s atolls. But at this stage nothing will dampen the spirits of a people who are clearly expectant that this is the next step towards the birth of a new nation.

A cultural group performing in Bougainville Photo: RNZ Pacific / Johnny Blades

Cultural groups have been performing in anticipation of the start of polling in parts such as Tinputz district.

A ward representative in Tinputz, Peter Aromet, said Bougainvilleans had been eagerly awaiting this moment since the end of the crisis about two decades ago.

According to him, the experience of going through civil war had shaped the region’s aspirations for independence.

“During the crisis people went through a lot of traumas. If we can turn those traumas into something good, from pain to something positive… I believe that all these traumas that we’ve come through, that we went through, we can use them for something positive.”

“People are very excited about what is expected especially the process between now an December,” said Theresa Jaintong, an Arawa-based social worker and reconciliation leader.

In terms of how the vote may pan out, Ms Jaintong said the ball was firmly in the court of Bougainvilleans.

“It’s up to us Bougainvilleans really to embrace the outcome and then what government will go into, and then drive it together. We have to be really united – the whole Bougainville – at all cost.”

Like many people in Bougainville, Mr Aromet is anticipating a period of transition following the outcome of the referendum, although a time frame is yet to be mapped out by the PNG and autonomous Bougainville governments.

Expectations placed in the referendum by Bougainvilleans are high, although the vote result requires ratification by PNG’s parliament before being implemented.

“If the outcome is positive or in favour of the Bougainvilleans, it might not turn out as people expect,” Mr Aromet admitted.

“But I believe it’s going to take a process. We’ll go to a transitional period – it might take five or ten years, then we’ll go to independence.”

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via IFTTT November 23, 2019 at 01:13PM

Bougainville vote results to be delivered in one announcement

Results in Bougainville’s upcoming referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea will be delivered in just one announcement.

The two-week polling period for the non-binding referendum begins on 23 November.

The verification, scrutiny and count process is to begin at the Count Centre in Buka once polling closes on 7 December.

The Bougainville Referendum Commission’s chairman Bertie Ahern said the vote would be delivered to the highest of international electoral standards.

He said that given the need to deliver a clear and credible process, a running tally of votes would not be provided, in order to avoid confusion.

“We are sure that the process will be safe, secure and will enable us to deliver an accurate and credible result,” he said.

“We are also following internationally recognised steps to ensure that the process is open to scrutineers, observers and the media.”

Mr Ahern said that the commission hoped to conclude counting well before the final date for the return of the writ – 20 December.

“Given the emotions of the vote, we will announce just one set of results, which will be the final one so as not to confuse people.

“The BRC will announce the final number of votes cast for greater autonomy and independence, plus the number of informal ballot papers. No more, and no less.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of scrutineers and observers have received accreditation to monitor Bougainville’s upcoming independence referendum.

Briefings were held yesterday in Bougainville’s three main centres, Buka, Arawa and Buin, for 95 observers and 554 scrutineers.

The Bougainville Referendum Commission said the briefings were to ensure the observers and scrutineers understood their role in supporting a transparent and credible referendum.

As well as dozens of domestic observers, several teams of international referendum observers will be converging on Bougainville in the next week ahead of the vote.

Source: RNZ

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via IFTTT November 13, 2019 at 01:27PM

Bougainvilleans encouraged to prepare for post-referendum

Bougainvilleans are being encouraged to consult with teams holding transitional dialogue on what happens after the upcoming referendum.

People from the autonomous Papua New Guinea region begin a two-week polling period tomorrow for a non-binding vote on whether Bougainville should be independent or have greater autonomy.

The result of the referendum is subject to ratification by PNG’s national Parliament.

The co-ordinator of the Bougainville Transitional Dialogue for the region’s central district, Agatha Banako, said they were helping people prepare for the period following the vote.

It was an ongoing process that was overseen by the PNG and Autonomous Bougainville governments.

“Whatever the result is, we still have to let the people speak their minds out – what they think on how Bougainville should be run. What are the things, the priorities and how they should be set up, for example areas of economy, education, health,”

she said.

Ms Banako has also been helping disabled people in her ward to get papers to participate in the referendum by postal vote.

As the deadline for obtaining papers for postal voting approached, Ms Banako said it was important for disabled people and others who might struggle to reach a polling station to get papers with the correct information.

Source: RNZ

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via IFTTT November 13, 2019 at 01:24PM

Former Bougainville president backs independence

Former Bougainville president James Tanis is calling for people to vote for independence from Papua New Guinea in the referendum which begins on Saturday.

Mr Tanis said he did not want people to listen to those who said Bougainville lacked the capacity to manage as an independent nation.

Bougainville is a resourceful region with resourceful people and a lack of capacity is not a permanent order in society, he said.

“But rather it is something that changes and it grows.

“The lack of capacity should not be used as an argument to discourage people from choosing independence because, from a personal level, what I know is that, yes, we do not have the capacity at the moment, but that should not stop the people from choosing independence.”

James Tanis, who was president from 2008 to 2010, has recently been working in various roles preparing Bougainville for the vote.

Souce: RNZ

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via IFTTT November 21, 2019 at 07:33PM

Bougainville Referendum: Applications for postal voting open

Bougainville is about to enter a two week polling period for a non-binding referendum on independence from PNG.

The devastation to infrastructure from a civil war over two decades ago is still evident, but today Arawa is upbeat and a hive of activity.

Polling officers are completing their training, polling material is ready to go, and scrutineers and observers are converging on the region.

Locals say they have been waiting for this moment for a long time and they’ll grab the opportunity to place their vote with over 200,000 Bougainvilleans enrolled for polling which begins this Saturday.

Bougainville’s president has told Parliament the post-referendum period will be critical to the end of the peace process.

John Momis said whatever the outcome, the negotiations and consultations would be complex.

It would require careful and strategic thinking about what Bougainvilleans wanted the region to look like in the future.

But Mr Momis added that he was confident they were united and ready for hard negotiations.

Bougainville President John Momis Photo: supplied

He has called for the best team of negotiators for Bougainville, one that includes women, churches, business people, veterans and Bougainvilleans living outside of Bougainville.

Mr Momis has called on the people of Bougainville to ensure peace is maintained before, during, and after the referendum.

“Whatever the outcome, it must be both peaceful and mutually acceptable,” he said.

The president, who is nearing the end of his second and last term in office, said 2019 would go down in history as the year where Bougainvilleans finally got to express their views about their future political status.

It was a year where Bougainvilleans could demonstrate to the world that they were a mature and democratic people, he said.

Source; RNZ

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via IFTTT November 20, 2019 at 07:51PM

Solomons boost border security for Bougainville referendum

Police in Solomon Islands have beefed up security along the shared maritime border with Papua New Guinea, ahead of the Bougainville independence referendum this weekend.

The non-binding referendum, which begins on Saturday, is the final expression of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, signed in 2001 to formally end the decade long civil conflict.

Fighting during the war often spilled into Western Solomons.

Officers from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force have this week been visiting communities in the Shortland Islands, which are only a few hours by boat from Bougainville, to reassure them that they will be maintaining an increased presence in the region while the referendum is being conducted.

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via IFTTT November 20, 2019 at 07:48PM