... president of Bougainville, minister for intergovernment affairs & autonomy implementation – speech notes & key messages
Date: 15 June 2012
Quelle: Radio New Dawn, 18.6.2012
The Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed on 30 August 2001. 3 pillars of the Peace Agreement are Autonomy, Referendum and Weapons Disposal. Commitments of the Peace Agreement have been incorporated into the 2004 Bougainville Constitution.
Bougainville’s Constitution is home-grown and gives Bougainville the right to assume increasing control over a wide range of powers, functions, personnel and the natural and physical resources of Bougainville.
The Autonomous Bougainville Government was formed in 2005 and is a separate and independent political institution from that of the PNG National Government. The Autonomous Bougainville Government has an Executive Council (e.g. Cabinet) and its Parliament has full legislative authority to make laws subject to the Constitution.
In August 2012 this year, the Peace Agreement will be 11 years old. A Referendum on Bougainville’s future political status is now potentially only 3 years away (window of timing being 2015 – 2020).
So given today’s celebrations – it is a good time to have a “stock-take” – where are we at?
The Peace Agreement was a joint and collaborative exercise and the platform to resolve the Bougainville Crisis and to secure lasting peace for all people by peaceful means. The Peace Agreement and its obligations are between 2 parties – the Independent State of PNG and the leadership of Bougainville representing the people of Bougainville. As with any agreement or contract which is legally binding on 2 parties, each party must perform and deliver on its promises and commitments to give full and proper effect to the agreement.
The Government and Administration of Bougainville continues to strive and do the best it can do for its people
There have been successes, and like any new system, organization and change there have also been some failures.
Generally, Bougainville is still very dependent on the goodwill and support of foreign aid donors and whilst we are grateful for those contributions over the years, we are realistic that that cannot last forever.
As Bougainville tries its best to continue to honor the spirit, intention and commitments of the Peace Agreement – it appears that the other main party is not.
Some people are saying that PNG does not understand the Peace Agreement. Some people are saying PNG is not honoring its commitments in the Peace Agreement. Some people are even saying that PNG is in breach of its Peace Agreement commitments.
As President of Bougainville, I say that I am frustrated and tired that the blame for lack of real progress and standards for Bougainvilleans is falling at the steps of our Parliament and levied at the Bougainville Administration.
In fact, the reality is that barriers are constantly put in the way of the Peace Agreement and autonomy implementation because PNG is not taking its commitments seriously. Let me just give you a few clear examples that support my view in terms of the Peace Agreement obligations:
- The administration of Bougainville is entitled to an annual unconditional “restoration and development grant” of K15million to cover its operations, including transferred powers and functions as drawdown occurs – this grant has not been forthcoming.
- Bougainville is entitled to annual “conditional intervention grant of K 100 million” for the next 5 years to be spent on projects jointly approved by the ABG and the National Government. Although the first K100million has been approved in both the 2012 National Budget and the ABG Budget – this has not been forthcoming and now we are over half way through year.
- There is a Joint Supervisory Body for the Bougainville and National governments for consultation, to deal with autonomy implementation and disputes – in the last 6 months, PNG has either cancelled or not turned up to a meeting.
- Negotiations in relation to Bougainville’s share of commercial fisheries resources from its waters have been stalled again; and even then, the potential outcome from these negotiations will not likely reflect a fair and equitable process or distribution.
- Lastly, in February 2011 key Bougainville Divisions signed Memoranda of Understanding with their National Department counterparts for the drawdown of functions and powers from PNG to Bougainville. Now 18 months later, there is only one ABG Division that has advanced the process of drafting a Bougainville law to formalize drawdown. This whole process has been slow and undermined by lack of resources, engagement between parties and commitment to the MOU obligations.
It is my view that these types of barriers continue to undermine the Peace Agreement and undermine the real intention and potential of autonomy for Bougainville. Let me ask you – how would you feel if you entered into an agreement and the other party was simply ignoring or avoiding the obligations and commitments of that agreement
I want to take this opportunity to say that the dream and possibility of true autonomy is not only good for Bougainville, but it is good for the nation of Papua New Guinea. But we cannot do it alone and at the very least Bougainville seriously needs the resources and funding committed through the peace making process to actually realize the goals and give long lasting effect to the peace and security envisaged by an autonomous arrangement.
Lastly, I think it needs to be made clear that “autonomy” is something quite different to “independence”. The best analogy is to say that autonomy is a type of self-determination and self-governing arrangement but still within the umbrella of another nation, in this case PNG. The notion of independence speaks for itself and is a subject matter and far more important debate for another day.
However, what I will say is that I sincerely hope that proactive steps and a concentrated effort can be made by both parties to honor the Peace Agreement as a matter of urgency. This is because I do not want to see our people continue to be disillusioned or become dispirited by the lack of true autonomous arrangements for Bougainville. It is of paramount importance that the people of Bougainville experience full autonomy in accordance with the spirit of the Bougainville Peace Agreement so that they would have a real choice when the referendum is held between 2015 and 2020.
During the period leading up to referendum 2015-2020 the National Government and ABG cannot afford to leave any stone unturned in their joint effort to create capacity for good governance, fiscal self reliance, rule of law, sustainable development, democratization and equitable distribution of power, goods and services.
Concluding Remarks
The Bougainville crisis has more or less reduced us to basic humanity; however, the Bougainville Peace Agreement offers us a unique opportunity to rise out of the ashes of the destruction to build an egalitarian society in which the dignity of the human person and the common good of all is promoted and defended. And so with gratitude and optimism every Bougainvillean must take on the challenge and with great passion collaborate with others to liberate ourselves from all kinds of impediments as we empower ourselves to become active agents of change and development and not mere passive recipients of goods and services. Out of all peoples of Papua New Guinea, we Bougainvilleans have been favoured with the rare and unique opportunity to create a fully autonomous government with the added right to determine our ultimate political status through a referendum whether to be an independent nation or remain an integral part of Papua New Guinea as a fully autonomous region. We have an indispensable role here, so let us not shirk our noble privilege; for if we do the whole “experiment” will fail and we will be the losers, living with the detrimental consequences of our failure. |
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