544 the Contemporary Pacific • 31:2 (2019) Papua New Guinea
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
544 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) .thejakartapost.com/news/2018/12/07/ Guinea by foreign media outlets and papua-mass-killing-what-happened.html acted as a microcosm of international Tempo.co. 2018a. Komnas ham: Worker relationships between China and other Killings in Papua is a Severe Violation. powers. To a certain degree, Chinese 5 December. http://en.tempo.co/read/ relations with Pacific Island states 923997/komnas-ham-worker-killings-in were on display, but events show- -papua-is-a-severe-violation ing tensions between China and the ———. 2018b. Papuan Armed Group United States became the main talking Terror Caused Nduga Residents Leave to points as they were scrutinized by Timika. 6 July. https://en.tempo.co/read/ analysts and journalists from across 919760/papuan-armed-group-terror the globe. While the critically impor- -caused-nduga-residents-leave-to-timika tant apec summit and related events tmkj, Tim Mediasi Kabupaten Jayapura. raised many issues, many other signifi- 2018. Kesepakatan Damai Umat Beragama cant happenings highlighted internal Kabupaten Jayapura 2018. challenges to governance, including emergency responses to natural disas- Wartaplus.com. 2018. Kata-kata Uztaz Fadlan yang Bikin Orang Papua Kesal. ters in the form of earthquake relief 27 March. https://www.wartaplus.com/ and resettlement of victims of volcanic read/635/Kata-kata-Ustaz-Fadlan-yang activity, continuing strife in the wake -Bikin-Orang-Papua-Kesal of the 2017 elections, accusations of corruption at various levels, upticks in Wismabrata, Michael Hangga. 2018. 5 Fakta di Balik Bentrokan Ormas dan various diseases, devolution of powers Mahasiswa Papua di Surabaya. Kompas, to provinces via an as-yet-undefined 16 August. https://regional.kompas.com/ form of special autonomy, preparation read/2018/08/16/05532001/5-fakta-di for the referendum on Bougainville, -balik-bentrokan-ormas-dan-mahasiswa land and development projects, and -papua-di-surabaya the long-standing saga of those seek- ing asylum in Australia but waylaid on Manus Island for the sixth year. Among the many challenges to Papua New Guinea face the people and government of After the 2017 general elections Papua New Guinea, perhaps none dominated the headlines, the major had a broader reach than the hand- event to capture the spotlight in Papua ful of natural disasters that affected New Guinea (PNG) in 2018 was the citizens from almost all regions in one country’s hosting of the quadrennial form or another. The largest and most summit of the Asia Pacific Economic destructive of these was the magnitude Cooperation (apec). Indeed, the apec 7.5 earthquake that struck in Febru- meetings garnered large amounts of ary and wrought devastation across attention within Papua New Guinea the interior. The Highlands region while also attracting international was especially hard hit, as subsequent scrutiny into the country’s role as landslides buried homes and villages, host as well as conditions across the cut off access roads, and damaged country generally. The apec meetings airstrips in many communities already led to a fresh look into Papua New considered isolated. Equally dangerous political reviews • melanesia 545 to the initial quake were the numerous past, including a 2004 event that led aftershocks that continued to shake to the displacement of more than nine the mountainous regions for at least a thousand people. In the aftermath of month. The destructive effects of the the 2018 eruption, delayed responses tremors were not limited to just the from the government appear to have areas that felt them; sedimentation due created an atmosphere of mistrust as to landslides muddied drinking water residents waited for assistance. Local and damaged or killed food sources in chief Paul Maburau told reporters that downstream communities, especially “it’s all talk and no action,” citing those in Gulf Province. Census infor- that the government had set aside mation for the area is hard to collect, us$922,000 for the resettlement of making an exact death toll difficult to the islanders but that ‘“no one seems extrapolate, but most estimates show a to know where the money has gone” loss of life of at least 180 individuals. (rnz 2018e). Offers of aid and relief from inter- Although the general elections national sources came quickly, with were completed in 2017, controversy Australia and New Zealand leading regarding their final outcomes contin- the charge. In a show of solidarity, ued in 2018. The Australian National young people in Indonesia’s colonial University’s Nicole Haley highlighted provinces in West New Guinea took widespread occurrences of corruption, up a collection, but the organizers including fraud, violence, restriction were promptly arrested. The logis- of female voters, shortcomings of the tics of distributing aid relief across electoral rolls, theft, and destruction the breadth of destruction—which of ballot boxes, leading her to describe spanned the Hela, Southern High- the final outcome as “hijacked.” lands, Western, Enga, and West Sepik While concern over such issues is provinces—would present a challenge common during PNG elections, Haley to any nation, but by August, Emer- remarked that the 2017 case was gency Controller Bill Hamblin told “qualitatively different to previous Radio New Zealand’s Johnny Blades elections” (Chandler 2018). in an interview that efforts had started Disputes over the final outcome to transition from relief to recovery of the election in Southern High- (rnz 2018f). lands Province continued as tensions Also posing a challenge to those mounted over the legitimacy of the in disaster response positions were governorship of William Powi. The volcanic eruptions on the islands of seat had been hotly contested even Kadovar and Manam, both situated after the election’s conclusion, and on the northern coast. Eruptions on it was the final parliamentary seat both islands necessitated large-scale declared, the announcement com- evacuations and brought promises ing after the legislative body had from the government for permanent already started sessions. While the resettlement of residents. Such events declaration was supposed to final- on Manam are not new, with a large ize all challenges, supporters of rival portion of the population having been candidate Joseph Kobol continued to resettled after several eruptions in the cite the declaration of Powi, a member 546 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) of Peter O’Neill’s People’s National cern. Three former prime ministers Congress, as an act of corruption. who served during the Bougainville After the National Court in Waigani Crisis—Sir Julius Chan, Sir Rabbie struck down a petition against Powi in Namaliu, and Paias Wingti—visited June, large numbers of Kobol backers the island in March to campaign for wrought violence and arson through- the continuation of Bougainville as an out the provincial capital of Mendi, integral part of Papua New Guinea. where they burned down the gover- The irony of Chan’s inclusion in the nor’s residence, the courthouse, and delegation—his government had led two other buildings. The rioters also an escalation in the war, including the made their way to the airport and set contract hiring of the Sandline Inter- alight a Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft national mercenaries in 1997—was operated by Link PNG, a subsidiary of not lost on the people. The unpopular Air Niugini. The aircraft was targeted scandal quickly led to his resignation. because the state-owned air carrier Martin Miriori, an outspoken critic was seen as a symbol of the national and former secretary to the Bougain- government, despite the separate ville Revolutionary Army, criticized corporate management. Photos and the event, saying that, “for us, there videos of the incident—which was is no more turning back as the people carried out with a calm and deliberate cannot simply forget about all the demeanor by the perpetrators, who injustices and unfair treatment and the included an explanation of what they injuries caused to them during the cri- were doing and why—were posted sis and they obviously blame the PNG on social-media accounts and dis- leaders at that time” (Hakalits 2018). cussed widely across the country. The In an April about-face of policy, the national government quickly declared O’Neill government backtracked on a state of emergency and dispatched previous statements that the refer- security forces to quell the violence. endum result would be nonbinding Conditions in the area improved and vowed to honor whatever choice quickly, and eventually thirteen men the people make, opening the road were arrested for their participation in for further discussions to outline the the riots and arson (Poiya 2018). phrasing and definition of the coming With the 2019 referendum on referendum (rnz 2018h). independence for Bougainville loom- One of the other major prepara- ing large in the minds of many, the tions for the Bougainville referendum national government undertook came as Prime Minister Peter O’Neill several steps to prepare for the vote as sat down with John Momis, president well as to try and sway the outcome. of the Autonomous Region of Bou- It is beyond the scope of this review gainville, in order to determine the to undertake an in-depth analysis of wording of the ballot question. After the goings on in Bougainville itself several delays to the meeting and pro- (for more on these events, see Boege, longed discussions once it occurred, this issue), but for many in leader- the two delegations were finally able ship positions in Port Moresby, the to agree that the ballot question will upcoming vote was of major con- simply ask “Do you agree for Bou- political reviews • melanesia 547 gainville to have: (1) Greater Auton- apec meetings. Preparations for the omy (2) Independence” (rnz 2018d). summit involved several building While the question remains of what projects, including two new conven- greater autonomy means and how it tion centers: the International Con- will be legally defined, the referendum vention Centre near the Parliament has been tentatively set for June 2019.