A presidential and parliamentary election was held in the

Autonomous Region of Bougainville In developmental psychology and morality, moral, political, and bioethics, bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Auto ...

between 11 May and 25 May 2015. Incumbent President John Momis won re-election, the first

President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

to do so.

Campaign

A total of 342 candidates contested the election, involving the 33 constituency seats, three seats reserved for women and three seats reserved for former combatants in the

Bougainville House of Representatives The Bougainville House of Representatives is the legislature of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, an autonomous entity within Papua New Guinea. It was established in 2005 under Part 5 of the region's constitution, which specifies that the Ho ...

and the presidency itself. A total of 104,542 valid votes and 1,685 informal votes were cast. The common roll included approximately 173,000 registered voters.

Presidential candidates

Nine candidates contested the presidency: incumbent President

John Momis John Momis (born 3 March 1942) is a Bougainvillean politician who served as the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea between 2010 and 2020. Momis served as ...

( New Bougainville Party), former Speaker of the House Nick Peniai ( Bougainville Labour Party), former national Minister for Bougainville Affairs Sam Akoitai ( Bougainville Islands Unity Party), and independent candidates Justin Pokata Kira, Sam Kauona, Peter Nerau, Simon Dumarinu,

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 ...

and Reuben Siara.

Independence referendum

As a part of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, the island was scheduled to hold a referendum on independence before 2020. The upcoming

2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum A non-binding independence referendum was held in Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, between 23 November and 7 December 2019. The referendum question presented a choice between greater autonomy within Papua New Guinea and ...

was an issue in the election, as whichever administration was elected would be in charge of managing the referendum. Analysts reported that incumbent president John Momis received support because his experience was seen as valuable for managing the referendum.

Results

Presidential election

The presidential election was held under the

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...

system, with voters classifying up to three candidates. John Momis received a clear plurality of first-preference votes with 48,826. Momis was easily re-elected, achieving an absolute majority on the fourth elimination with a total of 51,382 votes. His nearest competitor, former rebel commander Ishmael Toroama, finished with 18,466 votes. Sam Kauona and Sam Akoitai settled for third and fourth placings with 14,965 and 11,523 votes respectively.

Parliamentary election

The election marked the victory of Josephine Getsi, the first woman to win an open seat in the Bougainville House of Representatives. Of the 39 constituencies in the

, only 14 incumbent members were re-elected. All women's and former combatants' seats saw new members elected.

References

External links

Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner
{{PapuaNewGuinea-stub Elections in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Bougainville Bougainville