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Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, the Honorable James Marape, Ministers of the National Government, Members of the PNG Parliament, and Members of the PNG delegation.

On behalf of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, my delegation, and my people I would like to thank you, and your delegation, for being here to engage with us here in Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

This is a truly a historic occasion; as it has been 20 years in the making, since the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001.   

As a signatory to the Bougainville Peace Agreement, I am honored, to be here today.

But I am especially honored to be here to lead my delegation to consult with your delegation, on this next leg of our journey together.    

Today we are here not just as leaders of our two Governments; we are here as delegates of our people, seeking within ourselves, the best of our intelligence, as Melanesian brothers and sisters, to work out a practical solution for our future relationship as peoples of this region of the World.

This formal consultation process began only 5 months ago, when we signed the Joint Communique on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum, on the 11th of January.

We are now here, in Kokopo, to engage for the first time on the core issue between us - and that is the future of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.

This process has come about through the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

That Agreement ended the war between ourselves, and gave us a road map of co-operation, through peaceful means, towards a lasting solution.

Just last Thursday, 13th of May, we signed the Sharp Agreement in Port Moresby, to remove all the stumbling blocks to the transfer of powers to the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

That Agreement now quickens the transfer of powers and functions to the ABG.

While there is still work to be done on autonomy the focus for our Government and people is on this last leg of the referendum process, and that is on the required consultation over the outcome of the referendum vote.

The referendum pillar, which is one of the three pillars of the Bougainville Peace Agreement is now closer to its full implementation.

Mr. Prime Minister, dignitaries, and all who are here today, let me now say something about the referendum result.

When both governments signed the Bougainville Peace Agreement in August 2001, we committed ourselves to a “deferred 15-year referendum” period, to allow time to our people, on both sides, to heal the wounds of the conflict, and ponder over what we need to find as a final solution for Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.

For those who fought for independence we wanted independence at that time of our negotiations over the Bougainville Peace Agreement; but in all fairness to our people, we were prepared to wait 15 years, to allow them to have their say, through a free and fair referendum vote, at some later stage.

Both our Governments have in good faith co-operated over the last 20 years in implementing our agreement and understanding for a referendum.

On your side, the National Government gave us an undertaking to secure a guaranteed referendum through an amendment to the National Constitution.

Not many nations in the world today are able to give that kind of freedom to their citizens to have their say on whether or not they can secede from their parent country.

On our side we undertook to meet the benchmarks of the pre-conditions imposed through the Bougainville Peace Agreement and implementing laws on ourselves regarding weapons disposal and good governance.

And in time, we did achieve those benchmarks.

We both co-operated to set up the Bougainville Referendum Commission and allowed representatives of both Governments to be on this body.

We co-operated further to involve the international community and governments in our referendum process, and this was done satisfactorily, through the appointment of Mr. Ahern of Ireland as neutral Chair of this body.

We invited international observers to come and observe the conduct of the referendum vote and they all gave us favorable reports of the referendum.

We co-operated to allow for two options for the referendum vote, and BRC implemented that satisfactorily.

We co-operated to define the two options for Bougainvilleans to better understand the value of their choice, and BRC delivered that, professionally and proficiently, through sufficient awareness and literature.

We co-operated on an agreed definition for “greater autonomy” for the first option and BRC delivered the following definition to our people: “greater autonomy” means “a greater political settlement that provides for a form of autonomy with greater power than those currently available under constitutional arrangements”.

We co-operated on an agreed definition for “independence” for the second option and BRC delivered the following definition and description to our people: ‘independence” means “an independent nation with sovereign powers and laws, recognized under international law, and by other international states to be an independent state, separate from the state of Papua New Guinea” and descriptively as “ a defined territory inclusive of maritime boundaries and associated Exclusive Economic Zones, Capacity to enter into and manage relations with other states as well as international organizations, a right to apply for UN membership, capacity to deal with international financial institutions, security (including border security), Judiciary, including final court of appeal, Police Service, foreign affairs, telecommunications and postal services, citizenship, Quarantine, and Central bank”.

 We allowed for a 40 days objection period, and BRC reported that no objections were received within this 40-days period, and the Writs were consequently returned.

BRC declared the referendum result on the 13th of December 2019 and reported to both our parliaments diligently, and both parliaments, as a matter of formality and parliamentary procedure, endorsed its report unanimously.

We invited the international community to participate in observing the conduct of the referendum and those observer groups that came, concluded that the whole referendum process was “free and fair”, and “credible, transparent and inclusive”.

The referendum result, which was published in the Bougainville Gazette GN No 6/2020, on 28 January 2020, by Desmond Tsianai, acting Chief Referendum Officer of the Bougainville Referendum Commission, and is contained in the BRC Report, which the Chair of this Consultation, we expect, will formally table here later on, states the following results:

Total Votes for Greater Autonomy3,043(1.68 %)

Total Votes for Independence176,928(97.7 %)

Informal Votes1,096(0.6 %)

Let me continue, Mr. Prime Minister, to comment now on how we interpret these results.

Firstly, it is clear that Bougainvilleans have rejected greater autonomy, having already lived, seen, worked, and experienced the slow progress of autonomy under current arrangements of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, over the last 16 years.

Autonomy, under current arrangements or any future arrangement that is short of independence, is not an option for a solution for Bougainville.

A total of 176,928 Bougainvilleans voted for independence, which represents 97.7% of the voters.

This is a huge majority by any standard in any democratic community.

Secondly, the clear majority of 97.7%, as far as I know, is one of the highest in recorded history in the World, second only to Southern Sudan.

The people of Bougainville have spoken. What we must now do is to hear that voice and attend to their call.

Thirdly, the results have shown clearly, in my view, and in my Government’s official position, that Bougainville must be given or accorded its independence at all costs, and as soon as practicable.

I therefore wish to take this opportunity to present our official position, on the next steps in these consultations, over the outcome of the referendum, as required by the Bougainville Peace Agreement, and Part XIV of the National Constitution.

Should your delegation agree for your Government to accept, in principle, the outcome of the referendum vote, it is our proposal that we should record our joint acceptance of this, as a first step.

We should then move immediately to present our positions on the future political status of Bougainville.

All we have done in the last 20 years, whether in the weapons disposal or autonomy space, were intended to bring us closer to this day, when we should consult over the outcome of the referendum, and reach an agreement on the future of Bougainville.

Our position on the future political status of Bougainville is clear.

Bougainville must have its independence within the next four years, through the election of members to the parliament of the independent state of Bougainville by June 2025.

Hon Prime Minister, Ministers of the PNG Cabinet and members of the PNG delegation, this is the Bougainville Position, and I and my delegation look forward to a meaningful and fruitful engagement from here on.

Thank You Honorable Prime Minister and May God Bless Us All

Hon Ishmael Toroama 

President, ABG 

 

POSITION PAPER ON THE FUTURE POLITICAL STATUS OF BOUGAINVILLE

Bougainville wants to be an independence state, as voted for by Bougainvilleans through Option 2 in the referendum, as conducted in November and December 2019.

That is to say, Bougainville wants to be an independent nation with sovereign powers and laws, recognized under international law, and by other international states to be an independent state, separate from the state of Papua New Guinea, and has a defined territory inclusive of maritime boundaries and associated Exclusive Economic Zones, with capacity to enter into and manage relations with other states as well as international organizations, a has a right to apply for UN membership, and with capacity to deal with international financial institutions, security (including border security), and has a Judiciary, including a final court of appeal, a Police Service, foreign affairs, telecommunications and postal services, and has power over citizenship, capacity for Quarantine, and manages a Central bank.

Bougainville wants a declaration for self-government in June 2022.

Bougainville wants the first election of the independent state of Bougainville to be in June 2025.

Between now, May 2020 and June 2025, Bougainville needs to have a written constitution developed and implemented for its independence status.

Bougainville Leaders have supported ABG’s official position, and through the “Oasis Resolution” dated the 27th of January 2021, have passed the attached Resolution. 

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