PNG PM Marape has No Legal Authority to Set Date for Bougainville Independences : Namah

Statement by PNG Opposition Leader Hon Belden Norman Namah 

A writ for a Referendum on Bougainville was issued by the Governor-General of PNG in September 2019. The Referendum was to determine whether or not the people wished for

Independence from PNG or greater autonomy within the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

• The writ set the date for polling to start on 23 November 2019.
• In the Referendum, a total of 184,067 votes were cast.
• 176,928 votes were in favor of Independence.
• 3,043 votes were in favor of Greater Autonomy.
• There were 1,096 votes counted as informal.

No petitions were lodged against these results during the designated period. On 19! May 2020, the Chair of the Bougainville Referendum Commission. The Final Commission Report was presented in the National Parliament but the debate was deferred. No ratification vote has been proposed or taken. The people of Bougainville have been waiting for an answer back from the PNG Parliament on their Referendum choice.

It is now 2021 and Prime Minister James Marape has just announced 2027 as the day set for Bougainville Independence. Prime Minister James Marape and The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Belden Norman Namah said this announcement is an insult to the people of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea and could impede the peace process.

Mr. Namah said: “The set of events which gripped Bougainville and PNG from 1987 on gave rise to the 2001 PNG-Bougainville Peace Agreement which peace by peaceful means.

“The Peace Agreement was based on the three pillars of autonomy, referendum and weapons disposal’, all of which have happened or are ongoing. ‘It is now imperative that the least time is taken to return a ratification vote and a response by the National Parliament to our Bougainville people’s vote.

“No part of the 2001 Peace Agreement states that the PNG people will be consulted separately, only that the Referendum result was non-binding and that the PNG National Parliament will need to ratify it.

“Ratification is the only thing that remains to be done and it must be done quickly.”

Mr. Namah said the repercussions of a prolonged delay will be detrimental to both Bougainville and PNG.

Mr. Namah said: “As time goes on Bougainvilleans will lose faith and even patience with PNG. This can materialize in many ways and not all of them political or peaceful.

“Greater autonomy or Independence is not a desire that is exclusive to Bougainville alone. Several provinces have expressed this for a long time now. “Delay in the Bougainville peace process may give these provinces sufficient encouragement to move down the way that Bougainville has done. This could result in a crisis of a much bigger magnitude. “We are a democracy where people’s views are paramount. It is time to respect the democratic rights and majority wishes of the people of Bougainville.

| challenge Prime Minister James Marape to, therefore, recall Parliament at the earliest and have the final Commission Report debated and have the Parliament ratify in accordance with Bougainville Peace Agreement.

“It is also time to prevent the further dissolution of this nation of many tribes and ethnic divisions bypassing strong Constitutional laws and equitable distribution of the blessings of the land.”

HON. BELDEN NORMAN NAMAH, MP

Leader of the Opposition

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