2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum
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A non-binding
independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an Independence, independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence ...
was held in Bougainville, an autonomous
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, between 23 November and 7 December 2019. The referendum question was a choice between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea and full independence; voters voted overwhelmingly (98.31%) for independence. The referendum was a result of a 2001 agreement between the government of Papua New Guinea and the
Autonomous Bougainville Government The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG; tpi, Otonomos Bogenvil Gavman) is the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Structure The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Gove ...
that ended a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
fought from 1988 to 1998. The vote is non-binding and the
government of Papua New Guinea The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic multi-party system, whereby the prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader ...
has the final authority of decision on the political status of Bougainville. Observers have said that the clear result makes it difficult for Papua New Guinea to ignore or delay the result, but that independence could take years to achieve. In July 2021, an agreement was reached between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville, in which Bougainville will gain independence by 2027 if it is ratified by Papua New Guinea's parliament.


Background

Discussions about an independent Bougainville had been held as early as 1968. Following a meeting in
Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
between the two Bougainville MHAs ( Paul Lapun and Donatus Mola) and around 25 Bougainvilleans, a proposal was put forward in the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
to hold a referendum to decide whether the island should remain part of Papua New Guinea, join the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
, or become independent. However, no vote was held. After Papua New Guinea became independent from Australia in 1975, Bougainville was given provincial status in 1976. In 1988, tensions erupted into a civil war between the
Bougainville Revolutionary Army The Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) was a secessionist group formed in 1988 by Bougainvilleans seeking independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The leader of the BRA was Francis Ona who led the BRA against the Papua New Guinea Defence Force ...
and Papua New Guinea government forces. One key issue was the
Panguna mine The Panguna mine is a large copper mine located in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in the east of Papua New Guinea. Panguna represents one of the largest copper reserves in Papua New Guinea and in the world, having an estimated reserve of ...
, which closed in 1989. The civil war ended with a ceasefire in 1998, followed with the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement. The agreement established the Autonomous Bougainville Government, and mandated a referendum on the independence of Bougainville to be held 10–15 years after the election of the first Autonomous Bougainville Government, which was slated to be June 2020 at the latest. The referendum would be
non-binding A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that can or cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. This type of resolution is often used t ...
, and the final decision would rest with the Papua New Guinean government. In November 2019, Raymond Masono, Vice-President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, campaigned that he would plan to reopen the
Panguna mine The Panguna mine is a large copper mine located in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in the east of Papua New Guinea. Panguna represents one of the largest copper reserves in Papua New Guinea and in the world, having an estimated reserve of ...
if the referendum resulted in a vote for independence. Panguna had closed in 1989 due to the civil war and is now estimated to hold copper worth up to $60 billion. With independence, all of Papua New Guinea's interests in the mine would transfer to Bougainville, giving it a 60% share in all projects and retaining all mining licences. The remaining 40% would be left for investors to bid on.


Planning

The vote was originally scheduled for 15 June 2019, but was delayed to 17 October amid allegations that the national government was slow to provide most of the promised funding for the referendum. The referendum was delayed again to 23 November at the request of the Bougainville Referendum Commission to ensure the credibility of the referendum roll so more people can vote. Both governments said this delay would be the last. Voting was planned to take place over two weeks, from 23 November to 7 December. The vote faced a high degree of difficulty to organise, with most of the population in small hamlets and villages, and about half the population being illiterate. In October 2018, former
Taoiseach of Ireland The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...
was appointed to chair the Bougainville Referendum Commission, which was responsible for preparing the referendum.


Voters

In November, the BRC completed the official "certified voter list" to be used in polling for the referendum. The final number of eligible voters was 206,731, out of a total population of nearly 300,000. Males undergoing the
upe The upe (or upi) is a traditional headdress worn by men in parts of Bougainville (an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea) to symbolise their transition to adulthood. The term is also used to refer to the process of undergoing the transition an ...
rite of passage were allowed to vote at special male-only polling stations. Bougainvilleans living in other parts of Papua New Guinea, or in Australia and Solomon Islands, were also allowed to vote.


Question

The question put to voters was:


Results

The results of the referendum were announced on 11 December. Over 98% of valid ballots were cast in favor of independence. Prior to the election, it was widely expected that the independence option would win, with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reporting an estimate of 90% in favor of independence. An official reported that the referendum went "better than we expected," and that voters were enthusiastic, while observers from
Divine Word University Divine Word University is a national Catholic university in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the newest tertiary institutions in the country. It was established as a university by an Act of Parliament in 1996. The university is ecumenical and coedu ...
said that the voting took place in an atmosphere of celebration. On 24 January 2020, the result was declared "Petition Free", confirming that no appeals had been received within 40 days against the conduct or the result of the referendum and that none could be accepted in future. On the same day, the December result was commended by the Referendum Commission to the governments and the referendum process formally closed.


Aftermath

Following the announcements of the result,
John Momis John Momis (born 3 March 1942) is a Bougainvillean politician who served as the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea between 2010 and 2020. Momis served as a Catholic priest from 1970 until 1993, becoming active ...
,
President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville The President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville governs the island, which is an autonomous entity within Papua New Guinea. List of presidents of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville The first President of Bougainville was Joseph Kabui ...
, said, "at least psychologically, we feel liberated." Papua New Guinea's Minister for Bougainville Affairs
Puka Temu Sir Puka Temu, (born 7 January 1954), is a Papua New Guinean politician. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since 2002, representing the electorate of Abau Open. A former Deputy Prime Minister under Michael So ...
said, "the outcome is a credible one," but also stated that Papua New Guinea should have time to absorb the result. As the referendum was non-binding, independence will need to be negotiated between leaders from Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. The final decision on Bougainville's status depends on the
National Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...
. Rod McGuirk of ''
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'' noted that "the process of becoming a separate nation could take years to achieve." Papua New Guinean Prime Minister
James Marape James Marape (born 24 April 1971) is a Papua New Guinean politician, who is serving as the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the el ...
acknowledged the referendum results and stated that he would only commit his government to develop "a road map that leads to a lasting peace settlement" in consultation with Bougainville authorities. Papuan New Guinean officials were concerned that Bougainvillean independence would set a precedent for copycat secession movements in other
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
such as
East New Britain East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely des ...
, New Ireland, and Enga. Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands program at the
Lowy Institute The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney, ...
in Sydney, stated that the referendum's results were disadvantageous for Papua New Guinea, adding that, " there were to be a smaller majority, say 55 or 65 percent, the PNG government could have found a way to justify really stretching this out and having a period of negotiation that could last years or decades. Now with such a phenomenal majority, it’s much harder for them to do that." Damien Cave of ''
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'' reported that the referendum would serve as an inspiration for the West Papua independence movement in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and for voters in the 2020 New Caledonian referendum for independence from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Cave noted that, as with other Pacific countries, Bougainville will likely make pleas to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
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for assistance in developing its institutions while
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and potentially the
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may offer diplomatic and economic partnerships once independence is achieved. China is seeking to incorporate an independent Bougainville into its
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.


Negotiations

Negotiations on the outcome of the referendum began on 17 May 2021. Bougainville President
Ishmael Toroama Ishmael Toroama (born 28 February 1969) is a Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Bougainvillean politician who was elected President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in 2020 Bougainville Presidential Election, 2020. He is a former commander ...
, who took over from Momis in 2020, stated his wish to see Bougainville become independent by June 2025. Marape for his part cautioned against setting a specific timetable. While Marape and his government have recognized the results of the referendum, he has expressed reluctance at granting Bougainville independence for fear it will potentially result in the breakup of the country. Toroama warned that anything short of independence was not an option for Bougainville. In the meantime, Toroama launched the Independence Ready Mission to prepare the region for independence. He expressed hope of obtaining self-government by 2022, a prelude to full sovereignty. On 7 July 2021, Toroama and Marape announced that the region will become independent by 2027. However, the agreement requires ratification from Papua New Guinea's parliament before the region is granted independence. In early December 2021, Toroama appealed for the process to advance, expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of negotiations. This led to a joint statement by Marape and Toroama on giving Bougainville independence between 2025 and 2027 via a framework known as the Era Kone Covenant that will detail the constitutional process, seek approval from both Papua New Guinea and Bougainville's cabinets by 31 January 2022, and begin two months later if accepted. On 25 February 2022 a commission was sworn in to draft a constitution for Bougainville. In April 2022, the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the Government of Papua New Guinea finalised the Era Kone Covenant on the mechanisms by which the Parliament of Papua New Guinea will ratify the referendum results. Under the terms of the agreement, the ratification process should begin in 2023 with independence occurring no earlier than 2025 and no later than 2027.


See also

* 2019 in Oceania * 1969 Western New Guinea "Act of Free Choice" *
1999 East Timorese independence referendum An independence referendum was held in East Timor on 30 August 1999. The referendum's origins lay with the request made by the President of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie, to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 27 January 1999, for th ...
*
2006 Montenegrin independence referendum An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1372 It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary refere ...
*
2011 South Sudanese independence referendum A referendum took place in Southern Sudan from 9 to 15 January 2011, on whether the region should remain a part of Sudan or become independent. The referendum was one of the consequences of the 2005 Naivasha Agreement between the Khartoum centr ...
* New Caledonia independence referendums (
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)


References


Further reading

* Connell, J. (2020).
Bougainville : a new Pacific nation?
Small States & Territories, 3(2), 375-396.


External links


Bougainvillean Referendum Commission
{{Bougainvillean elections
independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an Independence, independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence ...
Bougainville Bougainville Bougainville Decolonization Referendums in Oceania Bougainville
Referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
Bougainville Bougainville Separatism in Oceania