President Hon. Ishmael Toroama votes at Petats
President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government Ishmael Toroama casted his vote today at Petats Island, Tonsu Constituency, Buka District for the Bougainville Regional Seat By-Elections.
The President was joined by members of his cabinet and senior members of the Bougainville Public Service at the island for the Bougainville Executive Council Meeting on the island. They also casted their votes which was facilitated by the PNG Electoral Commission.
After casting his vote President Toroama said that this was a momentous event for Bougainville in electing its representative in the National Parliament.
“I urge Bougainvilleans to vote for a leader who will work with the Autonomous Bougainville Government and with me as your President,” President Toroama said.
“We must not vote for a leader who isolates themselves and does not want to cooperate with the ABG which is the legitimate political authority on the ground,” President Toroama added.
He added that his main concern was the effective service delivery to the people and that cooperation with the four National members of Bougainville could help to alleviate a lot of development challenges in the region.
“The person that Bougainville elects as our Regional Member must also be the voice of the people of Bougainville in the national parliament,” he said.
President Toroama said whoever is elected must always remember the political independence aspirations of Bougainville and feverishly work towards achieving that objective in light of the ratification of the Bougainville Referendum results by the National Parliament.
From past experience the ABG has had a tumultuous relationship with Bougainville’s four National MP’s over the years.
President Toroama said that he is willing to put that behind the ABG and work on fostering cordial relations with the National MP’s to encourage unity amongst Bougainville’s leaders before Bougainville becomes independent.
[ Back to News ]
