bougainville island referendum

The referendum concluded on Dec. 7, 2019, and a final vote count was announced four days later. This article was first published in, © 2023 by "This Just In". The Speaker of Bougainville’s Parliament, Simon Pentanu, a highly respected local leader said the region's leadership had come under ridicule and criticism but were "the ones that make the hard decisions. He said the government of PNG was committed to adhering to the letter and spirit of the agreement. Following a meeting in Port Moresby between the two Bougainville MHAs (Paul Lapun and Donatus Mola) and around 25 Bougainvilleans, a proposal was put forward in the House of Assemblyto hold a referendum to decide whether the island should remain part of Papua New Guinea, join the Solomon Islands, or become independent. Over two years Bougainvillean leaders thrashed out a deal with the Papua New Guinean government, coming up with a Bougainville Peace Agreement. Funding for the BRC came in late, as did the appointment of a chair of the BRC, the former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. “Our assessment is the referendum will be a peaceful one and a credible one,” says Claudio. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. While the vote is non-binding, there are indications from PNG that Bougainville may be granted its independence if it can demonstrate economic self-sufficiency (as indicated by the PNG Prime Minister, James Marape), although. “Bougainville enjoyed financial security during the good times before the crisis, we were really very well off, unlike now, the crisis spoiled everything, so we are back to basics now.”. The effort required to conduct a vote like this in Bougainville, an autonomous region where 90% of people live in rural hamlets and villages, where roughy half of the population are illiterate, which has no radio or television network that covers the entire population, where just a few hundred copies of Papua New Guinean newspapers are brought from the mainland each day, and where the scars of a brutal war are still felt, is “tremendous”, says Mauricio Claudio, the chief referendum officer of the Bougainville Referendum Commission (BRC), which has been set up to administer the vote. The process could take years, Boege says, with some Bougainville observers estimating it could be a decade before an independent Bougainville is established. However, access to medicine, better international relations, the problem of economic dependency, exports/imports, international travel and biosecurity, are all on the agenda and largely come down to resourcing and the need for more of it. At the close of the enrolment period 205,731 voters were registered to vote, with close to a 50-50 gender split. The process of becoming a separate nation could take years to achieve. Will Bougainville gain economic and political independence? The referendum received worldwide attention, including in New Zealand, which has been heavily invested in the region through its long-term peacekeeping efforts. Experts believed Bougainville would vote overwhelmingly in favour of independence ahead of the other option which was greater autonomy. “Expectations are high, yes, there is the potential or the danger of the feeling of frustration or disappointment coming to the fore after the referendum,” Boege says. It’s a tough environment.”. Ballot boxes are returned by boat to Buka, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. As Papua New Guinea became independent of Australia in 1975, Bougainvilleans began to ask whether or not Bougainville would fare better on its own, rather than having its resources cut out and used to prop up a bigger nation. O n Saturday, the people of Bougainville – a small archipelago of islands flung 700km off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea – will begin voting in a referendum … PNG wants to maintain a national “unity,” so most likely won’t give up control easily. 1082 Pale San Vitores Rd. The final say will now go to lawmakers in the Papua New Guinea Parliament. “People are not divided,” says Helen Hakena, a peace and women’s rights campaigner in Bougainville. In 1988, tensions over the mine escalated, causing Papua New Guinean police and defence force officers to be deployed on the island. Bougainvilleans living abroad have also been able to vote, with two polling stations in Australia and two in the Solomon Islands. Two Australian Federal Police officers were seconded to a New Zealand-led police operation to maintain security for the poll. “We are preparing our people, growing our own food, fishing, getting their own medicine, putting food in the house. The United Nations Resident Co-ordinator for PNG, Gianluca Rampolla said the UN was "fully committed to continue providing support to both governments in the post-referendum process". We don’t own anything at this time, everything we have is owned by Papua New Guinea. Tumon Guam 96913, © 2023 by "This Just In". “The fighting stopped in 1997, because leaders on all sides were recognising it was going nowhere,” says Regan. Its lead up was closely observed, both by international peacekeepers, and by the press, with many claiming Bougainville could be the next “new nation.”. The election ran from Aug. 12 to Sept. 1, and the ballot counting is now set to conclude on Sept. 24. Photo by Getty Images. Members of the Bougainville Women's Federation celebrate the referendum result on Wednesday. In late 2019, Bougainville held a non-binding referendum on its future political status, with voters asked to choose between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea (PNG) or independence. Last December the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, an area in Papua New Guinea (PNG), voted in a referendum for independence, a move motivated by a history of violence and conflict. Results were announced at the central counting centre at Hutjena on Buka island, by Bertie Ahern, former Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) who was appointed Chairman of Bougainville’s Referendum Commission (BRC) which has overseen the referendum process. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of sovereignty for the island, with 98% of the votes supporting secession. All rights reserved. “The primary challenge was the lack of time the BRC was given to implement this referendum,” says Claudio, an American, who was only appointed to the role and arrived in Bougainville at the beginning of the year. Some believe it could provide a revenue source for Bougainville should it become independent. Will post-referendum negotiations be undertaken with the best interests of the people in mind? “It does hurt my pride as a Bougainvillean woman,” she says. The mine was a huge export earner for Papua New Guinea but many in Bougainville felt they received no benefit and resented the pollution and disruption of their traditional way of living. Ben Bohane has reported the Bougainville referendum as part of a collaboration between the Walkley Foundation, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Bougainville is largely ‘referendum ready’ and its people are expected to vote overwhelmingly for independence in the November referendum (Photo: Ben Bohane/Wakaphotos.com) While the referendum may be a high point for the people of Bougainville, it is not the end point. Fighting between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and PNG government forces developed into a full-blown civil war, which saw an estimated 20,000 people, out of a population at the time of 200,000, killed. The people of Bougainville have chosen overwhelmingly to become the world's newest nation in a historic referendum to break away from Papua New Guinea. The referendum was a key part of a 2001 peace agreement that ended a civil war in which at least 15,000 people died in the cluster of islands to the east of the Papua New Guinea mainland. It will be the ABG that negotiates the status of the Autonomous Region with PNG, and as voters overwhelmingly voted for independence, people need to have trust in their regional leadership. The two-week referendum period began on November 23 and closed on December 7. Currently, discussions about independence and structure of an interim government are being led by various groups (such as the Bougainville Indigenous Dialogue), as well as representatives from different districts. Education remains at the top of the wish list as many Bougainvilleans struggle to pay costly school fees, as well as a desire for a system where local languages can be taught. They will be asked whether they wish to vote for greater autonomy from PNG or for independence from it, but there is little question about which way the vote will go. But with the Panguna mine closed since the conflict began and without other operational mines or developed industries, the question of how an independent Bougainville would support itself hangs over the vote. The conflict was originally with PNG, but fighting spread among different local factions and the December referendum was a condition imposed by the Bougainville Peace Agreement of 2001, where voters were asked whether they wanted more autonomy or independence. The two-week referendum period began on November 23 and closed on December 7. Last December the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, an area in Papua New Guinea (PNG), voted in a referendum for independence, a move motivated by a history of violence and conflict. Voters in the Pacific island chain of Bougainville flocked to the polls on November 23 at the start of a long-awaited referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea. Over the course of the next two weeks, starting in the larger townships of Buka and Arawa, and then moving to more remote areas, voters will be able to attend one of 829 polling stations – 800 of which are in Bougainville, 25 in PNG provinces and four in remote mining locations – to cast their vote. Take the breakup of the Soviet Union, where once autonomous regions, like Abkhazia, have struggled for recognition as independent states. Her organisation, the Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency, which started out of the conflict, providing counselling to those affected by its violence, has been telling the women in their network to prepare in case of violence, or in case Papua New Guinea blockades Bougainville, as it did during the conflict. Young men in their Upe initiation hats, the symbol of Bougainville, line up to vote in the independence referendum in Teuapaii village.Credit:Ben Bohane.

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