Political Reviews
nic maclellan
volker boege, mathias chauchat, joseph daniel foukona, budi hernawan, michael leach, james stiefvater
497
Fiji and Vanuatu are not reviewed Initial steps for the referendum’s in this issue. preparation had been taken in 2016 and 2017, and in 2018 the process continued and intensified, with Bougainville several important decisions made and In 2018, political developments in the practical actions implemented. Most Autonomous Region of Bougainville importantly, at its meeting in Port in Papua New Guinea (PNG) were Moresby on 10–12 October 2018, the dominated by preparations for the Joint Supervisory Body (jsb), which is referendum on the future political the combined GoPNG-abg institution status of the region. All other issues in charge of the implementation of the were overshadowed by the efforts Bougainville Peace Agreement, agreed to make Bougainville “referendum on the question to be put to voters on ready.” In fact, considerable progress the referendum ballot. Bougainvilleans was made in this respect, particularly will be presented with two options: with preparations on the ground in “Option 1. Greater Autonomy or Bougainville. At the political level, Option 2. Independence” (Bougain- however, there were major delays, and ville News 2018b). This is different at the end of the year it was not clear from what the Bougainville side had whether the target date of 15 June initially proposed—they had simply 2019 could be met. wanted a “yes” or “no” to indepen- The referendum on Bougainville’s dence alternative. With the greater future political status is a core provi- autonomy option, the GoPNG is now sion of the Bougainville Peace Agree- presenting an alternative that sounds ment of 30 August 2001, which more positive, while at the same time terminated the decade-long war of opening a Pandora’s box of debate secession on the island. The agreement on what “greater autonomy” actually stipulates that the referendum has to means. include complete independence for At the October jsb meeting, the Bougainville as one option and that it GoPNG also “endorsed a proposed has to be held ten to fifteen years after budget of k34 million [approximately the establishment of an autonomous us$10 million] for the coming year” government for Bougainville. This for referendum preparations, and PNG Autonomous Bougainville Govern- Prime Minister Peter O’Neill “under- ment (abg) took office in June 2005; took to ensure that the budget was hence the window for conducting the incorporated into the 2019 national referendum is June 2015 to June 2020. budget” (Bougainville News 2018b). In May 2016 the abg and the Govern- Despite this undertaking, however, ment of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) lack of funding for the referendum agreed on 15 June 2019 as the target remained a constant and grave prob- date for the referendum. lem in 2018. The PNG side did not
519 520 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) follow through on its commitments: Robert Igara were appointed— In a press conference in early January although the appointment of two men 2019, Bougainville Electoral Commis- does not conform with the brc char- sioner George Manu had to disclose ter, which stipulates that each govern- that the “funds promised by the ment should select one man and one National government totaling twenty woman. After initial abg suggestions million Kina [approximately us$6 mil- for a brc chairperson were not taken lion] has [sic] not been received” (New up by the GoPNG, both governments Dawn fm News 2019). Due to the agreed on the former prime minister lack of funding, the urgently needed of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, as the chair- update of the common roll could not man. In a joint letter in April 2018, be completed, and the Bougainville the PNG prime minister and the abg Referendum Commission (brc) could president offered the position to Ahern not commence its work. (Regan 2018b, 4). Ahern accepted the The brc was established in 2017 as offer, and his appointment was made the independent administrative agency official at the jsb meeting in Arawa that is charged by the Bougainville on 29 June 2018. He participated in Peace Agreement with conducting the person in the October jsb meeting. referendum. The brc has as its gov- Later in 2018, the brc board met at erning body a board of commissioners regular intervals via Skype. However, comprised of seven members, namely, by the end of 2018, the structure of the national and Bougainville electoral the brc (ie, the secretariat and other commissioners, two persons appointed departments) had still not been set by the GoPNG and two by the abg, up, and the brc, although formally and a chairperson appointed by the established in 2017, was barely opera- Joint Supervisory Body (with the tional in 2018 due to lack of funding. understanding that this chairperson This raised concerns as to whether the should be an eminent international target date of 15 June 2019 could be elder statesman or stateswoman). The met. In fact, “it seems unlikely that board is supported by a brc secre- the steps necessary for the conduct of tariat under a chief referendum officer the referendum can all be taken by (Bougainville Referendum Commis- mid-2019” (Regan 2018b, 10). Conse- sion Charter 2017). quently, toward the end of 2018, more While the abg had appointed its and more voices could be heard point- two members for the brc in 2017 ing out that 15 June 2019 is merely a (former abg Vice President Patrick “target” date and that the need may Nisira and Ruby Miringka, a Bou- arise to postpone the actual date of the gainville women’s leader, civil society referendum. Officially, however, at the representative, and director of the end of 2018 the target date remained Bougainville Healthy Communities in place. Program), the appointments from Lack of funding is behind many the GoPNG were delayed. Finally, in of the problems besetting the refer- August 2018, PNG National Research endum preparations. While the abg Institute Director Thomas Webster kept its respective commitments—for and former GoPNG Chief Secretary example, by contributing k500,000 political reviews • melanesia 521
(us$148,000) to brc operations, as May 2018, a second phase of support agreed to at the jsp meeting in Arawa from the fund was approved. Financed at the end of June 2018—this cannot through the Peacebuilding Fund, be said of the GoPNG. Not only did the UN Development Programme’s it fail to release the funds allocated Bougainville Referendum Support for referendum preparations, but it Project (brsp) is supposed to support also did not set aside funds for the the brc, including work on the voter Restoration and Development Grant roll, the distribution of materials, in the 2019 PNG national budget, and a technical electoral assistance even though this funding is guaranteed project. The brsp budget, however, under the Bougainville Peace Agree- is not intended to cover the full costs ment and forms a major source of of the referendum. UN projects also revenue for the abg, a fact that had support the political dialogue between been a bone of contention in previous the abg and the GoPNG (and between years (Regan 2018a, 12). This left the the parliaments of Bougainville and abg with the lowest budget since its PNG), as well as the weapons-disposal establishment in 2005 (New Dawn fm process and the inclusion of women, News 2018a). It is unclear whether youth, and persons with disabilities in administrative inertia, clumsiness, preparations for the referendum. Since institutional inefficiency, or deliberate March 2018, the various UN agen- political considerations are the cause cies present on Bougainville (including of the GoPNG’s lackluster attitude. It the UN Development Programme, remains to be seen whether the new the United Nations Population Fund, minister for Bougainville Affairs in the UN Women, and the UN Refugee GoPNG, William Samb, who made Agency) have been coordinated by a his first official visit to Bougainville liaison officer from the Department of in October 2018, will alter the state Political Affairs at the UN headquar- of affairs. As the financial problems ters in New York (Rui Flores). Major became increasingly obvious late contributors to the Bougainville- in 2018, the bishop of the Catholic designated UN funds are Australia, diocese in Bougainville, Bishop Ber- New Zealand, and Japan. nard Unabali, floated the idea that, A mission of partners of the should funds from the GoPNG fail to Peacebuilding Fund, including Aus- materialize, ordinary Bougainvilleans tralia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, New could step in and contribute to fund- Zealand, and Norway, visited PNG ing the referendum themselves through and Bougainville in August 2018. donations, and this idea was taken up Their Bougainvillean hosts explained by other Bougainville leaders (New to the delegates of the mission “the Dawn fm News 2018h). importance of continued international To a certain extent, the United presence and of UN support for the Nations has stepped in to fill financial oversight of the implementation of gaps. From October 2014 to April the Peace Agreement to help ensure 2018, it supported the Bougainville continued peace and stability. Some peace process to the tune of us$7.15 made requests for some kind of a UN million via its Peacebuilding Fund. In or regional security observer mission” 522 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
(UN Peacebuilding Fund 2018). The peace monuments from decommis- idea to invite “the United Nations to sioned weapons gained prominence provide an international security force with veterans and the wider public. for the referendum” was launched at Despite the remarkable progress, the the jsb meeting in Arawa on 29 June weapons-disposal process was not 2018 (Momis 2018). finished at the end of 2018; it will The UN-supported weapons- continue in 2019. disposal process made considerable The disposal of weapons is a progress during 2018. The disposal condition for each of the thirty-three of so-called residual crisis weapons Bougainville constituencies to be in a (weapons left behind from the war in position to declare itself referendum the 1990s), which were still held by ready. In September 2016 the Bou- some former ex-combatants and some gainville House of Representatives had factions, is seen as important for con- set 31 December 2018 as the target ducting a free and fair referendum— date for referendum readiness for the credibility of the referendum the constituencies. Apart from weap- outcome depends on the certainty that ons disposal, there are several more people can cast their vote without the criteria set by the House of Represen- threat of physical harm from weapons. tatives, compiled in a checklist, that The jsb meeting in December 2017 have to be met for such a declaration. had endorsed k12 million (us$3.6 mil- The most important of these is the lion) to support a Bougainville Weap- finalization of reconciliations stem- ons Disposal and Rehabilitation Plan. ming from cases left over from the In 2018 a series of weapons-disposal war (so-called crisis-related cases). A ceremonies were held in various parts host of such reconciliations, often in of Bougainville, particularly toward combination with weapons disposal, the end of the year. In numerous cases, were carried out in all parts of Bou- weapons disposal was organized by gainville in 2018. These included small communities and veterans spontane- reconciliations at the level of families, ously, independent of the officially villages, wards, and clans, and mass planned process. Veterans handed in reconciliations at the constituency their weapons in the context of highly level. While in 2017 only two con- emotional reconciliation ceremonies, stituencies declared themselves ready, and weapons were stored in containers many others followed in 2018. The or destroyed. The Mekamui faction last days of the year saw a particular from central Bougainville, which so increase in ceremonies of reconcilia- far had not joined the peace pro- tion and of weapons disposal, accom- cess but had committed to weapons panied by referendum-ready declara- disposal by the end of 2018, also took tions. The constituencies of Baubake, part in this process. Other Mekamui Peit, and Kopi declared themselves factions in the south of Bougainville ready on 31 December 2018. How- remained skeptical of the referendum ever, there are a number of constituen- process and were reluctant to join the cies that did not meet the target date process of weapons disposal (Regan and are still working on referendum 2018a, 13). The idea to construct readiness in 2019. political reviews • melanesia 523
Important to preparations for refer- 2018b, 4). Lack of funds, however, endum readiness in 2018 were several considerably delayed and hampered initiatives aimed at raising referendum this exercise. Consequently, the voter awareness at the grassroots level. roll update could not be completed by Information and awareness campaigns December 2018 as originally planned. were carried out by community gov- On 29 October 2018, the Selau ernments and their ward steering com- Constituency in North Bougainville mittees, constituency referendum com- held a mock independence referen- mittees, and district peace and security dum, organized by the member for committees and by the Bougainville Selau in the House of Representatives, Referendum Dialogues project, a part- Joseph Watawi, a strong campaigner nership among the abg’s Department for independence. Out of 6,097 voters, of Peace Agreement Implementation, 5,612 (92 percent) opted for indepen- the Peace and Conflict Studies Insti- dence (New Dawn fm News 2018g). tute Australia, local nongovernmental This result confirmed the “widespread organizations, and a network of local assumptions that the likely outcome referendum facilitators. The churches, will be a vote heavily in favor of inde- which play an extremely important pendence” come the actual referendum role in social life in Bougainville, also (Regan 2018b, 16). Other constituen- intensified their engagement in refer- cies planned to carry out similar mock endum preparations. They received referenda but were strongly advised support from the PNG Council of against it by brc Chairman Ahern Churches (pngcc) and UN Women. A and his co-commissioners, who argued pngcc delegation visited Bougainville that such referenda would confuse the for a fact-finding mission in August people and influence referendum prep- 2018, and from then on the council arations in a biased way (New Dawn stayed involved in the referendum fm News 2018c). In response, the abg process (Post-Courier 2018). decided to stop all plans to have mock Also important to referendum prep- votes (New Dawn fm News 2018e), arations is the production of a voter and no further mock referenda were roll. It was decided that there should held in 2018. be a special voter roll for the referen- Several cases of corruption and dum, based on updating and verifying fraud in the Bougainville public service the common roll used in the 2015 were revealed in 2018. Most seri- Bougainville elections. The Bougain- ously, employees of the Department of ville Electoral Commission, in coop- Personnel Management had defrauded eration with the community govern- the abg of more than k360,000 ments of the approximately 450 wards (us$107,000), and in the Department in the Autonomous Region of Bou- of Community Government, k2 mil- gainville and their ward recorders, was lion (us$594,000) from the disaster supposed to start work on the new trust fund account was misappropri- roll in April 2018, supported by the ated (Kaybing 2018). Other depart- International Federation for Electoral ments were also embroiled in corrup- Systems (which itself is supported by tion affairs. At the end of 2018, the the UN Peacebuilding Fund) (Regan PNG national fraud squad traveled 524 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) to Bougainville to investigate several the Australian company rtg Mining cases. Officers suspected of involve- Inc. Efforts to come to a unified posi- ment in fraudulent activities were tion made little progress in 2018. The charged under the Bougainville Public division became obvious in September, Service Act (New Dawn fm News when the Central Bougainville Parlia- 2018i). mentary Committee of the House of In 2018 the referendum issue Representatives came out in support largely overshadowed another impor- of rtg. On 6 September, representa- tant political issue that had been at tives spoke in favor of the company in the center of Bougainville politics for Parliament, presenting rtg’s redevel- a long time: mining, and in particu- opment proposal for Panguna to the lar the fate of the Panguna gold and House. In the follow-up, rtg’s local copper mine. With a moratorium ally, Special Mining Lease Osikai- on exploration and mining in the yang Landowners Association Inc, Panguna area having been declared by announced that “they had won the the abg in December 2017, attention support of the House of Representa- shifted to other parts of the island, tives Committee from Central Bou- and in 2018 exploration was carried gainville for its proposal on Panguna, out in the Tore region in north Bou- together with support from members gainville and in Isina in the border throughout Bougainville” (rtg Min- region of Central and South Bougain- ing Inc 2018). In reality, the debate ville. The Tore project is a joint ven- in parliament about rtg’s proposal ture of the local company Toremana was remarkably heated (New Dawn Resources Limited and the Australian fm News 2018d). While Chairman of company Kalia Investment Limited. Central Bougainville Parliamentarians The Isina project is a joint venture of Rodney Osioco in fact spoke strongly Isina Resources Holdings Limited, led in favor of rtg and asked the abg by former Bougainville Revolutionary to “listen to the Panguna landown- Army Supreme Military Commander ers who are ready to work with the Sam Kauona, and the mining company abg and their preferred company San Roque Metals Inc of the Philip- rtg” (New Dawn fm News 2018d), pines. In both cases, local communi- others were vehemently opposed, ties are highly divided on the issue, most prominently abg President John mounting considerable resistance to Momis, who accused rtg of “creat- exploration and the prospect of large- ing instability on Bougainville.” He scale mining. “was supported by more members The same holds true for the Pan- to criticize rtg for trying to divide guna area, where some sections of members” (New Dawn fm News the populace are totally opposed to 2018b). This shows that not only local reopening the Panguna mine, others people but also their representatives in are in favor of reopening it with Bou- Parliament are divided on the Panguna gainville Copper Limited (the operator mine issue. Against this backdrop, the of the old Panguna mine) in charge, general mood in Bougainville in 2018 and still others want to reopen it in could be summed up as: Let us do the collaboration with a new operator, referendum first and talk about the political reviews • melanesia 525
Panguna mine issue afterward. It can endum. There is a widespread view be expected that no substantial prog- in Bougainville that an overwhelming ress will be made on this important majority of Bougainvilleans will vote issue before the referendum. for independence and that indepen- On other economic fronts, there dence will automatically follow. For were some encouraging developments. this reason, politicians—first and Agreement was reached between the foremost abg President Momis—went abg and the GoPNG on the hand- to great lengths in 2018 to convey the ing over of fisheries management to message that the referendum is non- the abg, and following an associated binding, that the abg and the GoPNG memorandum of understanding will have to discuss its outcome and between the two governments, the negotiate what will follow from it, and Bougainville Fisheries Marine Author- that the National Parliament of PNG, ity was established (Bougainville according to the Bougainville Peace Bulletin 2018a, 3, 7). Commercial Agreement, has the right of final deci- fishing licenses can potentially pro- sion making (ratification). These terms vide major revenue for Bougainville. were even included in the preamble Another memorandum of understand- of the referendum ballot. In a speech ing was signed between the Parlia- in the House of Representatives on ment member for South Bougainville, 13 November 2018, President Momis Timothy Masiu, and the PNG Cocoa explained that the referendum was just Board regarding a cocoa seedling the start of a long-term process; he program that aims to plant up to one said that after the referendum “there million cocoa trees over the next four will be a need for a detailed consulta- years (Bougainville Bulletin 2018b, tion process around the outcome” 15). This is an important step toward and that the “outcome will provide reestablishing Bougainville as a lead- the basis for negotiation, and the will ing cocoa producer in the Pacific. The of the people of Bougainville must be third annual Bougainville Cocoa Fes- taken into account in this process.” tival, which was celebrated in Buka in At the same time, he assured the September 2018, showed the potential parliamentarians and the public that Bougainville has in this regard. The while the referendum “is non-binding, abg seems to be opening up to the it has moral authority which cannot exploration of options for economic be ignored” (New Dawn fm News development beyond its previous fixa- 2018f). Steps were taken in 2018 to tion on mining. This is demonstrated prepare for discussions on the referen- by the fifth Bougainville Strategic dum outcome in the post-referendum Development Plan 2018–2022, which transition period. At the June 2018 was endorsed by the Bougainville jsb meeting, the abg and the GoPNG Executive Council in February 2018 resolved to establish a “Post Referen- (abg 2018). dum Planning Taskforce” (Bougain- Over the course of 2018, the abg ville News 2018a), and the abg set up and members of the political elite grew its own Referendum Transition Task increasingly aware of the need to man- Force in October 2018 (James Tanis age expectations regarding the refer- and Dennis Kiuiai, Referendum Tran- 526 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) sition Task Force, pers comm, Nov Kaybing, Anthony. 2018. Bougainville 2018). Hence the referendum will not Cracks Down on Public Service Corrup- be the end of the story but rather the tion. Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG beginning of a new chapter. The year Attitude, 15 November. https://asopa 2019 will be a watershed year in the .typepad.com/asopa_people/2018/11/ bougainville-cracks-down-on-public history of Bougainville. -service-corruption.html [accessed volker boege 18 Jan 2019] Momis, John. 2018. Opening Address by References President J.L. Momis Joint Supervisory Body. Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bou- abg, Autonomous Bougainville Gov- gainville, 29 June. https://bougainvillenews ernment. 2018. Bougainville Strategic .files.wordpress.com/2018/07/president Development Plan 2018–2022. Buka, -momis-opening-address-joint-supervisory Autonomous Region of Bougainville. -body-arawa-290618.pdf [accessed Bougainville Bulletin. 2018a. Edition 12, 18 Jan 2019] April. http://www.abg.gov.pg/index.php/ New Dawn fm News. 2018a. abg news/read/the-bougainville-bulletin Approves the Lowest Budget since 2005. -edition-12-april-2018 [accessed 12 Feb New Dawn on Bougainville, 20 December. 2019] https://bougainville.typepad.com/ ———. 2018b. Edition 13, December. newdawn/2018/12/201218abg-approves http://www.abg.gov.pg/index.php/news/ -the-lowest-budget-since-2005-new-dawn read/bougainville-bulletin-christmas -fm-news-the-abg-minister-for-treasury -edition [accessed 12 Feb 2019] -and-finance-robin-wilson-this.html [accessed 18 Jan 2019] Bougainville News. 2018a. Agreed Record of Outcomes 2018. Meeting of the Joint ———. 2018b. abg President Cal [sic] Supervisory Body Arawa, Autonomous on rtg to Respect Authority. New Dawn Region of Bougainville, 29 June 2018. on Bougainville, 11 September. https:// 30 June. https://bougainvillenews.com/ bougainville.typepad.com/newdawn/2018/ 2018/06/30/bougainville-news-alert-agreed 09/110918abg-president-cal-on-rtg-to -record-of-outcomes-jsb-meeting-arawa -respect-authority-new-dawn-fm-news -june-29-plus-president-momis-at-joint -the-abg-president-chief-drjohn-momis -supervisory-body-meeting-claims-png -says-that-the-abg.html [accessed -government-owes-bougainville-1-billion 22 March 2019] -kina-under-th/ [accessed 18 Jan 2019] ———. 2018c. Cease Mock Referen dum ———. 2018b. Bougainville Referendum Elections. New Dawn on Bougainville, News Update. 13 October. https:// 12 December. https://bougainville.typepad bougainvillenews.com/2018/10/13/ .com/newdawn/2018/12/121218cease bougainville-referendum-news-update -mock-referendum-elections-new-dawn -png-pm-oneill-and-president-of -fm-news-the-bougainville-referendum -bougainville-momis-agree-at-jsb-on -commission-wants-the-abg-members -referendum-question-do-you-agree-for -who-are.html [accessed 22 March 2019] -bougainville-to-have-option-1-greater-a/ ———. 2018d. Masiu Says Panguna Is [accessed 18 Jan 2019] for Bougainville. New Dawn on Bougain- Bougainville Referendum Commission ville, 11 September. https://bougainville Charter. 2017. Printed copy in author’s .typepad.com/newdawn/2018/09/ files. 110918masiu-says-panguna-is-for political reviews • melanesia 527
-bougainville-new-dawn-fm-news-the tions Says George Manu. New Dawn -abg-member-for-the-largest-constituency on Bougainville, 9 January. https:// -on-bougainville-k.html [accessed bougainville.typepad.com/newdawn/ 22 March 2019]. 2019/01/080119kakapetai-says-churches -have-remained-strong-new-dawn-fm ———. 2018e. Pentanu Says No More -news-the-abg-member-for-teua-and Mock Referenda. New Dawn on Bougain- -assistant-speaker-for-the-bou.html ville, 19 December. https://bougainville [accessed 22 March 2019]. .typepad.com/newdawn/2018/12/ 191218pentanu-says-nomore-mock Post-Courier. 2018. Churches Fact- -referenda-new-dawn-fm-news-the-abg Finding Mission to Bougainville a Success. -speaker-of-parliament-simon-pentanu 29 August. https://postcourier.com.pg/ -today-told-the-abg-hou.html [accessed churches-fact-finding-mission-bougainville 22 March 2019] -success/ [accessed 18 Jan 2019] ———. 2018f. President on Referendum. Regan, Anthony. 2018a. The Bougain- New Dawn on Bougainville, 13 November. ville Referendum Arrangements: Origins, https://bougainville.typepad.com/ Shaping and Implementation. Part One: newdawn/2018/11/131118-president Origins and Shaping. Discussion Paper -on-referendum-new-dawn-fm-news-the 2018/4. Acton, act: The Australia -abg-president-chief-dr-john-momis-in National University. -his-talk-to-parliament-this-after.html ———. 2018b. The Bougainville Referen- [accessed 22 March 2019] dum Arrangements: Origins, Shaping and ———. 2018g. Six Thousand Voted at the Implementation. Part Two: Shaping and Mock Polls. New Dawn on Bougainville, Implementation. Discussion Paper 2018/5. 30 October. https://bougainville.typepad Acton, act: The Australia National .com/newdawn/2018/10/301018six University. -thousand-voted-at-the-mock-polls-new rtg Mining Inc. 2018. Panguna Land- -dawn-fm-news-a-total-of-6097-voters owners Win the Support of Central -voted-at-the-mock-referendum-vote-in Bougainville’s Parliamentary Committee. -the.html [accessed 22 March 2019] Announcement to the Australian Securities ———. 2018h. Unity before Referendum. Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange, New Dawn on Bougainville, 29 Novem- 10 September. ber. https://bougainville.typepad.com/ newdawn/2018/11/291118unity-before UN Peacebuilding Fund. 2018. Building -referendum-new-dawn-fm-news-the Trust in Papua New Guinea: Accompany- -deputy-chief-secretary-policy-thomas ing the Bougainville Peace Agreement. -raivet-today-challenged-the-people.html 13 September. https://unpeacebuildingfund [accessed 22 March 2019] .exposure.co/building-trust-in-papua-new -guinea [accessed 22 March 2019] ———. 2018i. Update on the Work Being Undertaken to Address Fraud in the Public Service. New Dawn on Bougainville, 28 August. https://bougainville.typepad New Caledonia .com/newdawn/2018/08/280818update-on -the-work-being-undertaken-to-address The year 2018 was very political. It -fraud-in-the-public-service-new-dawn-fm was the year of the vote on full sover- -news-the-abg-minister-for-public.html eignty, which took place on 4 Novem- [accessed 22 March 2019] ber after three decades of postpone- ———. 2019. Funding Slowing Prepara- ment. A massive “no” to independence 528 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) was generally expected. However, the referendum on independence in New big surprise of the year was that the Caledonia on 4 November 2018: “Do “no” result was neither clear-cut nor you want New Caledonia to accede to massive. It was quickly interpreted by full sovereignty and become indepen- the independentist parties as a “yes, dent?” The answer was either “yes” maybe” or a “yes, soon.” or “no.” The year had an unusual start fol- Undoubtedly, the well-organized lowing a visit from Edouard Philippe, polls were the main success of the prime minister of France, in December referendum, along with the over- 2017 and a general policy statement all peaceful and respectful political from Philippe Germain, president of atmosphere. The referendum control the Government of New Caledonia, commission ensured the regularity of on 17 December 2017. The first high- the ballot. The polls were monitored light of 2018 was a visit from Emman- by 250 delegates spread throughout uel Macron, the president of the the polling stations, along with about French Republic, from 3 to 5 May. He fifteen United Nations (UN) observers. highlighted New Caledonia’s some- The referendum cost the French gov- times volatile past by going to Ouvéa, ernment more than €5 million (€100 the scene of the 1988 hostage crisis, = us$112), or about 30€ per voter. By and to the Tjibaou Cultural Center in way of comparison, the average cost Nouméa, where he handed over to the of an election in metropolitan France Government of New Caledonia the is 3€ per voter. two acts that had formalized French However, the answer to the ques- possession of the territory on 24 and tion was hard: a record turnout and 29 September 1853 in the name of an obvious ethnic division of the coun- Napoleon III. In his speech at the try between the “yes” votes of Kanak Théâtre de l’Île to the Government of and the “no” votes of the “others.” To New Caledonia, elected officials, cus- an abrupt question, a harsh answer. tomary chiefs, representatives of civil The turnout was exceptional at society, and economic leaders, Macron 80.63 percent. By contrast, for the last reaffirmed that he “would not take provincial elections in 2014, the voter sides. It is not up to the Head of State turnout was only 69.95 percent. The to take part in a question which is only comparative turnout was that posed only to Caledonians” (Europe 1 for the vote on the Nouméa Accord in 2018). Even still, he called on Caledo- 1998, which was 74.23 percent. The nians “not to go back on history” and absolute record was achieved in 2018 stated that France “would not be the in the Northern Province with 86.01 same without New Caledonia.” It was percent. The country voted 56.70 a way to reaffirm—without saying too percent to 43.30 percent to remain in much—a personal preference for New France (Government of France 2018), Caledonia to remain a part of France. a long way from the predicted 70 per- Before this presidential visit, on 27 cent to 30 percent (Quid Novi 2018). March 2018 in Paris, Prime Minister Olivier Houdan, a New Caledonian Philippe announced the abrupt and historian, spoke of “the victorious dividing question to be posed at the defeat of the independentists” (2018). political reviews • melanesia 529
Ethnic and cultural bias in the for the Matignon Accord in 1988 and opinion polls, along with an excessive their descendants could vote in the imbalance in the means of communi- referendum. This included Kanaks cation between those voting “yes” and who at some point held customary those voting “no,” deluded the coun- status, those native to Caledonia, and try. The incredible mobilization of newer arrivals who met the residency Kanak youth, with long lines of young requirements. The newer arrivals’ voters often holding Kanaky flags in inclusion was “the last and ultimate front of the polling stations, struck all concession,” as independentist leader the observers. The intergenerational Pacal Naouna (then president of the transmission of the fight for indepen- Union Calédonienne, one of the com- dence has undeniably been achieved. ponents of flnks) said in an often- The electorate for the sovereignty quoted speech during the French presi- vote was a little different from the one dent’s turbulent visit in 2003 in Kone. for provincial elections, but it was the Those taking up residence after 1988 subject of fewer quarrels. The repre- had to prove that by the year 2014 sentatives of the Kanak people never- they had been residents continuously theless did not agree that the principle for twenty years, meaning only those of “one man, one vote” should apply who had moved to New Caledonia in the event of a referendum on self- before the end of 1994 were eligible. determination or in the election of However, thirty-five thousand people Congress. Kanak are still extremely who had arrived more recently from concerned about renewed French metropolitan France were not allowed settlement in New Caledonia. In to vote in the referendum. Because of 1988, the Matignon Accord deferred the inclusion of non-Kanak individuals the question of the referendum until who met the settlement requirements, 1998, with an electorate restricted to the Kanak people made up barely 50 any person who had been settled in percent of the electoral body. This New Caledonia for at least ten years electoral roll composition was para- on the date of the 1998 referendum doxical, as independence referenda are (ie, settled at least since the accord typically designed for the people who was signed in 1988). There was no have been colonized—in this case the referendum on self-determination in Kanak people—not for the settlers. 1998, but the Nouméa Accord was In 2016, 2017, and 2018, UN signed that year. It defined a restricted experts worked throughout the electorate for the provincial elections, country to observe the operations of which is the basis of New Caledonian the special administrative verification citizenship. The accord also defined commissions in charge of the electoral another restricted electorate for the roll revision proceedings. The experts’ referendum on the country’s acces- aim was to look into the thoroughness sion to full sovereignty. In 1988, the of the special electoral rolls so that the political compromise, embedded in referendum result would be indisput- the Matignon Accord and confirmed able. Their main observation was with the Nouméa Accord, was restric- that not all of the people who could tive: only those who were able to vote enroll had done so, especially Kanaks. 530 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
On 2 November 2017, the Signatory even neighborhoods. The “yes” vote Committee of the Nouméa Accord superimposed perfectly on the Kanak met in Paris to find a compromise distribution. This fact was known, but regarding the exhaustive nature of it was overshadowed by the cam- the electoral roll for the referendum. paign (Pantz and Robertson 2018). According to French law, registration In summary, it was said that women, is voluntary, so many Kanak people subjected to patriarchal superiority by were not registered. The new politi- tradition, would vote less for indepen- cal compromise has been to register dence than men; that young people them automatically. As a political would not be interested in the fight for compensation, the pro-independence independence; and that people would parties have agreed that the right to give up the “yes” vote because of the vote will be given to all people born seriousness of the choice. None of this in New Caledonia with at least three happened. On 4 November, Kanaky years of permanent residence—that came back in force on the New Cale- is, including people traveling to and donian political front. from France without close ties to New With 80,120 Kanaks of custom- Caledonia. This was enshrined in law ary status and a total of around in April 2018 (Government of France 88,000 Kanaks of both customary 2019). In September 2018, the UN and ordinary civil status, and with experts reported that New Caledonia’s a turnout of 80.63 percent (between review of the electoral roll for the 64,600 and 70,950 voters), the November referendum on indepen- independence option won 60,199 dence was done properly (rnz 2018). votes. And it lacked several thousand They concluded that the process was votes in the Islands Province (at least on the whole completed within the three thousand votes) because of the law and with objectivity. strong restriction of proxies, which The electoral roll for the referen- was specifically intended for this dum listed 174,995 people, of whom referendum. On the contrary, some 80,120 (less than 46 percent) held non-independentist (self-identifying as customary status. Adding to this “loyalist”) parties engaged in double- group those of mixed race and Kanaks speak, in which nationalist discourses holding ordinary civil status, the about “our country” and “our shared Kanak people made up nearly half of common destiny,” influenced young the roll. However, the counting system Caledonians, who sincerely believed in was inaccurate because it was esti- them and voted “yes.” It was certainly mated based on family names. Only marginal—more like the subtle begin- approximately twenty-two thousand ning of something new. prospective voters were born outside In the words of Alain Christnacht, New Caledonia. member of the Conseil d’État and The result showed a very strong cowriter of the Nouméa Accord, “we polarization of voting in New Cale- have two trains launched on a single donia, with voters totally split politi- track” (Christnacht 2018). There- cally, ethnically, and geographically fore, the conditions of a consensual across provinces, coasts, cities, and founding act of a Caledonian people political reviews • melanesia 531
necessary to open the way for a con- put economic and social issues at the sensual future do not seem to have forefront. been met. Raymond Guépy, president This eighteenth Committee of of the Pioneer Federation, harshly Signatories meeting, held on 14 stated that “the idea of ‘Caledonian December in Paris, ended on a note people’ is finished” (B 2018). After of disagreement. The independen- thirty years of dialogue for decolo- tists warned that they would quickly nization, the political map of New request a second referendum, and Caledonia seems to be frozen. What even a third if necessary. In fact, point has really changed since the 4 Novem- 5 of the Nouméa Accord includes ber vote is the national perspective guarantees for the pro-independence on independence. Before the vote, parties, envisaging multiple referenda none of the loyalists wanted to open if one-third of Congress requests them discussions with the independentist (Government of France 1998). This parties on the issue of independence, unusual provision requires three suc- which, to them, could never occur. cessive referenda, with one every two Instead, they were only open to discus- years if necessary (ie, if the previous sions on decolonization within the one has failed). Since the first consul- French Republic with equal rights and tation took place in 2018, a second opportunities. Now the population is would take place in 2020, and a third aware that independence is a possibil- in 2022. The non-independence par- ity, that the Kanak people can win by ties asked for the reopening of the a narrow margin, and that it would be electoral body to French residents, wise to prepare and discuss options. which was refused under the Nouméa If this is true, it is a sign of hope for Accord. The Union Calédonienne change. Therefore, the 4 November refused to discuss the economic and ballot will have been very useful for social issues because they are the transforming the common destiny of responsibility of New Caledonia and the country. not the French government. The only The French prime minister returned point of agreement was to set the date to New Caledonia on 5 November, the of the provincial election as 12 May day after the vote. This was a much 2019. more discreet visit than his visit the The rest of the calendar for the previous year. He repeated the mes- political year was unsurprising. sage of the president of the French Germain’s government, which was Republic on election night, express- elected on 1 December 2017 after a ing “his pride that Caledonia chose statement by the four flnks parties France” and saying that there is now wishing to end the political instability “no other way than that of dialogue,” and prepare for the referendums, was and he invited “everyone to look to not overthrown. However, because of the future” (lnc 2018). He invited divisions among the loyalists, it only the Committee of Signatories to meet functions with a relative majority, in December in Paris “to collectively which depends on the support of the draw the first conclusions of the ref- political party Calédonie Ensemble. erendum” (lnc 2018). He wanted to When necessary, the independentists 532 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) add their votes in Congress to those of independence by boosting the creation Calédonie Ensemble. The renewal of of jobs: the new Nou-Magnin Clinic, the president of Congress on 30 July the North Hospital, and Médipôle, 2018 showed that divisions among the largest hospital in Oceania. The loyalists were deep. Gaël Yanno, a Médipôle project cost xpf50 bil- former member of the French Parlia- lion (xpf1 million = us$9,400) and ment, was elected president of Con- gave work to 250 local businesses, gress in the third round by only a which meant that xpf10.5 billion was relative majority, the candidate of the invested into the local economy. The Rassemblement having withdrawn, to hospital building houses 645 beds and prevent the election of an independen- twelve surgical rooms. Divided into tist (Tromeur 2018). The presidency five departments (medicine, surgery, of the Customary Senate was renewed pediatrics, outpatient care, and emer- on 30 August 2018 amid divisions gencies) and covering 90,000 square between customary chiefs. Clément meters on 20 hectares of land, the Grochain was elected, but an appeal hospital, which opened in December was lodged against his election. 2016, has the capacity to cater to sixty The New Caledonian economy had thousand emergency admissions (com- mixed fortunes in 2018. One of the pared to forty-six thousand before), clichés regarding New Caledonian forty thousand hospitalizations, and society is that uncertainty about the fifty-eight thousand medical consul- political future of the country is slow- tations each year. With some 2,300 ing down the economy. There are few employees, it is the most important questions about the viability of the public infrastructure in New Cale- French overseas model based on finan- donia (cht Gaston-Bourret 2019). cial transfers to individuals, exces- The annual operating budget is xpf29 sive public spending, and debt. This billion (Government of New Caledo- is why the economic and budgetary nia 2016). expectations of the country remained The gigantic nature of these con- unrealistic throughout the year. On structions, which is which is beyond 26 November 2018, the budgetary the financial capacity of the health- policy statement for 2019–21 forecast care system, is a real problem. New an increase in the overall budget of Caledonia allocates substantial 3 percent and an increase in the distri- resources to health care and social bution budget (ie, the budget allocated security—about 23 percent of its to the provinces) of up to 4.3 percent gross domestic product (gdp)—and (Congress of New Caledonia 2018). thus provides a level of health care The 2019 budget deliberately creates comparable to that of a highly devel- a deficit for the coming election year oped country (eg, 20 percent of the (provincial elections) through a lack gdp in New Zealand, 19.1 percent in of honesty (ie, the expenses will occur, Australia, 31.5 percent in France). In but revenues will not come in). September 2018, Government of New Three major hospital construction Caledonia adopted the Do Kamo plan projects were carried out in hopes of (in Ajië, “Do Kamo” means “to be encouraging a massive vote against fulfilled”) (NC Presse 2018b), favor- political reviews • melanesia 533 ing long-term strategic objectives, such services similar to a value-added as disease prevention and financial tax) was born when seven taxes and management through the creation of import duties were merged into one an independent regulatory authority, single tax. However, this new tax has over immediate and tangible measures become complicated with multiple (eg, reduction of reimbursements, rates and exemptions. Second, the limitation of medical supplies, increase long-awaited Competition Authority in taxes or social contributions). was finally established. This regula- The construction sector had a bad tory body allows the opening of large year in 2018, or at least that is what stores and punishes restrictive prac- was said. In reality, this sector figures tices of competition; it can also give disproportionately in the gdp of the recommendations to the government. country and is oversized relative to the Its president, Aurélie Zoude-Le Berre, population (providing 13.34 percent has proved its independence by not of employment in New Caledonia hesitating to criticize government compared to 6.92 percent in France), choices. whereas the industry sector is weaker The nickel industry also had prob- than that of France (providing 11.56 lems in 2018. In Kouaoua, a small percent of employment in New Cale- mining village on the east coast, the donia compared to 14.08 percent in Société Le Nickel (sln) conveyor belt France) (Wasmer and David 2012). was burned a dozen times. Kanak All of this is boosted by tax exemp- youth protested against the extension tions coming from both the French of the mine north of the village, which and the New Caledonian governments. was destroying the environment, The latter has spent more than xpf15 especially the endemic forest. This billion in tax exemptions for indi- showed that the growth of exports of viduals for medium-income housing low-grade ore was finding its limits in over a period of six years beginning the opposition of local populations. in 2013. On 19 October 2018, the This is a new type of conflict for the government announced a new support country, and it has been costly for the plan of xpf50 billion for 2019 and Société Le Nickel, which continues to the same amount for 2020. The major lose a lot of money. The sln produc- advantage of construction projects is tion price is us$6.6 per pound of the securing of debt financing—jobs nickel, with a selling price of us$5, today, repayments tomorrow. while low-cost competitors produce In October 2018, the tourism at us$4 per pound. The southern industry was restructured with the plant run by Vale is also losing money, creation of a New Caledonia Tourism though a little less thanks to cobalt, Agency, an economic interest group- which is a mining by-product. Vale ing of provincial governments and the also intends to invest in a new process- Government of New Caledonia. ing plant for storing dry residues. The Two economic reforms also took cost will be us$500 million, and it will place in 2018. First, the Taxe Générale require a construction site employing sur la Consommation (a general tax five hundred people for two years. on the consumption of goods and This news is more reassuring than 534 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) that of the sale of Vale, which was a would also like to develop the rela- possibility in 2017. tionship between the European Union New Caledonia will finance a and New Caledonia, which is a major new power plant, the construction point in his policy statement. He of which is essential to the Société Le visited Brussels from 21 to 23 Febru- Nickel. On 19 April 2018 Congress ary 2018 for the eleventh Follow-up decided that the government will bor- Committee meeting between France row xpf47 billion and that the French and the Pacific Overseas Countries State will provide an xpf13 billion and Territories (octs) and the six- tax exemption. The reimbursement teenth EU-oct Dialogue Forum. At will be financed by an increase in fuel this summit, New Caledonia signed taxes for individuals. Environmental- the eleventh regional European ists have opposed the plant because Development Fund, which includes a it will produce greenhouse gases. sas subsidy of xpf4 billion. New Caledonia Energy, the company On the independentist side, the that will build the power plant, was political bureau of flnks partici- to be chaired by Philippe Gomès, one pated in the thirteenth anniversary of of New Caledonia’s representatives the Melanesian Spearhead Group in in the French Parliament. However, Nouméa, during which the regional the French Constitutional Council organization once again expressed decided on 29 November 2018 that support for New Caledonia’s self- his holding multiple offices would be determination. In the context of incompatible with his role as a rep- regional integration, the Govern- resentative in the French Parliament ment of New Caledonia gave xpf120 (Constitutional Council of France million financial assistance to the 2018), so he will not be able to do so. Republic of Vanuatu to build its own In September 2016, New Caledo- national bilingual university; the nia was approved as a member of the University of New Caledonia is closely Pacific Islands Forum (pif). The first associated with this cooperation. participation of New Caledonia and The currently small Centre of Higher French Polynesia as full members at a Education and Training will become pif summit took place in November Vanuatu National University and 2017 - triple its capacity in 2019. mit took place in Nauru on 5 Septem- mathias chauchat ber 2018. During that summit, the European Union (EU) announced the creation of a Climate Change Resil- References ience Fund (Outremers360 2018). The president of the Government of All websites accessed 20 April 2019. New Caledonia insisted on the need to B, Hubert. 2018. La gueule de bois des preserve the biodiversity of the ocean loyalistes, l’espoir des indépendantistes. by announcing the launching of “local Calédosphère.com, 6 November. https:// fishing vessels” (NC Presse 2018a), caledosphere.com/2018/11/06/la-gueule which will be financed by a French -de-bois-des-loyalistes-lespoir-des government tax exemption. Germain -independantistes/ political reviews • melanesia 535
Christnacht, Alain. 2018. Continuer. Government of New Caledonia. 2016. Demain en Nouvelle-Calédonie, Planifier les dépenses hospitalières. 8 November. 31 October. https://gouv.nc/actualites/ 31-10-2016/planifier-les-depenses cht Gaston-Bourret, Centre Hospitalier -hospitalieres Territorial Gaston-Bourret. 2019. Les données chiffrées. https://www.cht.nc/ Houdan, Olivier. 2018. Retour sur le le-cht-gaston-bourret/le-medipole/les référendum en Nouvelle-Calédonie: la -donnees-chiffrees/ défaite victorieuse des indépendantistes. Congress of New Caledonia. 2018. Débat Opinion internationale, 8 November. d’orientations budgétaires pour 2019– lnc, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes. 2018. 2021. 26 November. http://www.congres Mais le oui a surpris: “Je veux la fierté .nc/2018/11/26/debat-dorientations pour le chef de l’Etat que la majorité -budgetaires-pour-2019-2021/ des Calédoniens ait choisi la France.” Constitutional Council of France. 2018. 5 November. Décision n° 2018-40 I du 29 novembre NC Presse. 2018a. 49ème Forum des Îles 2018. https://www.conseil-constitutionnel du Pacifique à Nauru. 4 September. https:// .fr/decision/2018/201840I.htm www.ncpresse.nc/49eme-Forum-des-Iles- Europe 1. 2018. Macron en Nouvelle- du-Pacifique-a-Nauru_a7386.html Calédonie: que retenir de son déplace- ———. 2018b. “Do Kamo, Être épanoui!” ment? 5 May. https://www.europe1.fr/ c’est parti! 4 September. https://www politique/macron-en-nouvelle-caledonie .ncpresse.nc/Do-Kamo-Etre-epanoui--c -que-retenir-de-son-deplacement-3644246 -est-parti-_a7385.html Government of France. 1998. Accord sur la Nouvelle-Calédonie signé à Nouméa le Outremers360 . 2018. Forum des îles du 5 mai 1998. JORF 121 (27 May). https:// Pacifique à Nauru: L’Union Européenne www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do annonce un fonds pour la résilience aux ?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000555817 changements climatiques. 5 September. &dateTexte=&categorieLien=id http://outremers360.com/politique/forum -des-iles-du-pacifique-a-nauru-lunion ———. 2018a. La commission de contrôle -europeenne-annonce-un-fonds-pour-la de l’organisation et du déroulement de -resilience-aux-changements-climatiques/ la consultation sur l’accession à la pleine souveraineté de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Pantz, Pierre-Christophe, and Scott Rob- JORF 0257 (7 Nov). https://www ertson. 2018. Exploring the Kanak Vote on .legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte the Eve of New Caledonia’s Independence =JORFTEXT000037562441&fastPos Referendum. Discussion Paper 2018/8. =1&fastReqId=1996571967&categorie Acton, act: Department of Pacific Affairs, Lien=id&oldAction=rechTexte The Australian National University. Avail- able from http://dpa.bellschool.anu.edu ———. 2019. Décret n° 2018-286 du .au/experts-publications/publications/ 19 avril 2018 relatif à l’instauration en 6459/dp-201808-exploring-kanak-vote Nouvelle-Calédonie de périodes complé- -eve-new-caledonias mentaires de révision de la liste électorale générale et de la liste électorale spéciale à Quid Novi. 2018. Extraits des résultats la consultation. NOR: MOMO1811021D publiés par les différents instituts. Quid (8 May). https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ Novi, Institut d’études de marché et de affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT0000 conseils marketing en Nouvelle-Calédonie. 36819939&categorieLien=cid https://m.facebook.com/quidnovi.nc/ 536 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) photos/a.601667066615820/18804168 nity were quite diverse. Some believed 28740831/?type=3 that the tpnpb would never attack rnz, Radio New Zealand. 2018. UN civilians, and some regretted it. Sebby Approves New Caledonia Voter Registra- Sambom, the spokesperson for the tion. 17 September. https://www.radionz tpnpb, made it very clear, however, .co.nz/international/pacific-news/366594/ that the tpnpb was responsible and un-approves-new-caledonia-voter had planned the attack three months -registration in advance (Hadi and Ayu 2018). Tromeur, Françoise. 2018. Gaël Yanno Despite these claims, the truth à la tête du Congrès, analyse et réactions. remains far from resolved since none nouvelle calédonie 1, 30 July. https:// of the state’s legal institutions con- la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/nouvellecaledonie/ ducted investigations to establish facts. gael-yanno-tete-du-congres-analyse Indonesia’s national human rights -reactions-611974.html commission (Komisi Nasional Hak Wasmer, Etienne, and Quentin David. Asasi Manusia Republik Indonesia, or 2012. Rapport sur la situation économique Komnas ham) issued a press statement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie: “Et si la declaring that “such an act carried out prospérité n’était pas éternelle?” August. by the armed group is a serious human Available from https://larje.unc.nc/fr/le rights violation” (Tempo.co 2018a). -rapport-wasmer-sur-la-situation The public statement, however, did -economique-de-la-nouvelle-caledonie-2/ not prompt Komnas ham to under- take a proper fact-finding mission, even though it is the only legal institu- Papua tion in the country that has subpoena authority to look into allegations of Papua concluded 2018 with a tragic human rights abuses. As a result, both incident when thirty road workers and the victims’ families and the public one soldier in Nduga District were live with one-sided stories about the killed by the West Papuan National incident. Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan In contrast, the government’s Nasional Papua Barat, or tpnpb), response was to immediately deploy one of the military wings of the Free troops to hunt down the tpnpb. This Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua decision shows that a heavy-handed Merdeka) led by Egianus Kogoya approach remains the most preferred (Tehusijarana 2018). The workers option for state authorities in deal- were working on an infrastructure ing with Papua’s security. Still, two project that penetrated the isolation months after the incident, it remained of the Papua Central Highlands. The unclear whether the joint operation incident constitutes the largest number between the Indonesian police and of civilian casualties by a non-state the military had captured the group. armed group in Papuan history. The Instead, the public was informed that tpnpb insisted that the workers were many Nduga residents, especially double agents who worked for the women and children, had fled their Indonesian military in disguise. The homes and taken refuge in Wamena responses from the Papuan commu- or Agats for safety. At the time of political reviews • melanesia 537 writing, these vulnerable groups were cities in Indonesia, such as Ambon, living in dire conditions and required Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar. immediate humanitarian assistance. Statistically, the coalition docu- Father John Djonga, a local Catholic mented the ten most common patterns priest who shelters internally displaced of human rights violations, the top persons from Nduga, made a public three being political arrests in relation appeal: “Please help us since we are to political events (1,201 cases); viola- overwhelmed with thousands of refu- tions of victims’ health (648 cases); gees. Nobody helps us to date” (pers and torture (80 cases) (icp 2019). comm, 20 Jan 2019). He had already Unlike in previous years, in 2018 established a temporary school to we have seen new players involved in shelter some four hundred internally the raids, namely mass organizations displaced children. (organisasi kemasyarakatan, or ormas) The worker tragedy was not such as the Front Pembela Islam entirely unprecedented. Five months (Islamic Defender Front), the Pancasila earlier, a number of violent incidents Youth, the Community Forum for had occurred. tpnpb members shot Sons and Daughters of the Police and at Dimonim Air and Trigana Air Armed Forces (Forum Komunikasi commercial aircrafts that carried Putra Putri Purnawirawan dan Putra ballots for the regional elections, Putri tni Polri, or fkppi), and the injuring the pilots of both aircraft Association of Sons and Daughters of and killing three civilians during the Army Families. These organizations Trigana Air attack (Gumilang 2018; take a more active role in confronting cnn Indonesia 2018). These incidents Papuan students without any restraint were considered a bad omen, prompt- from the police. This action suggests ing the locals to flee their homes and that the police welcome their partici- take safety in the Asmat area (Tempo. pation in dealing with Papuan mat- co 2018b), even though they had ters and consider them proxies. The to walk and canoe across difficult, ormas not only encourage the police swampy terrain. to take harsh measures against Papuan In retrospect, the protracted students but even participate in clamp- conflicts in Papua have changed little ing down on the political activities of in the last five decades. The heavy- Papuans in their own neighborhoods. handed approach of the authorities The involvement of proxies in is not just meted out against Papuans handling security matters in Indo- inside Papua’s jurisdiction. Rather, nesia is not novel. On the contrary, it has become a common pattern for it is common for the state security the police to put pressure on Papuan apparatus to make use of illegality communities across the Indonesian and illegal groups for its own benefit archipelago. The International Coali- (Aspinall and van Klinken 2011). If tion for Papua has documented a we were to take a closer look at these persistent pattern of police brutality organizations, however, we would against Papuan students and their soli- be surprised to see that they do not darity groups. The police raided Pap- naturally come together as one front. uan students’ dormitories in various Rather, they compete and even oppose 538 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) each other based on their conflict- organized peaceful demonstrations. ing interests and affiliations. For In contrast, the police take no action instance, the Front Pembela Islam is when ormas take to the streets under well-known for campaigning on an the banner of an Islamist agenda. Islamist agenda, such as implement- This discrepancy resonates with what ing sharia law, raiding the places of Robert Cribb conceptualized as a sys- worship of religious minorities, and tem of exemption (2011). That is, the leading protests against former Jakarta law is unevenly implemented because Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama for policy makers accept bribes, induce- blasphemy. So it was unusual that this ments, favors, commissions, and so on militant group was protesting against in exchange for making decisions that Papuans and advocating for a nation- favor one party over the other. As will alist agenda. be discussed, this system of exemp- Similarly, the Pancasila Youth, a tions is also found in other dimensions legacy of Suharto’s New Order regime of Papua’s political sphere. that he deployed to silence opposi- In sum, unlike in previous years, tion, took to the streets to oppose during which the Papuans’ interna- Papuan students gathering in Surabaya tional campaign absorbed most of in August and December 2018 (see their energy, the 2018 Papua political Wismabrata 2018; Firman 2018b). chapter was largely colored by domes- fkppi’s Yogyakarta branch had been tic politics. This shift might be attrib- involved in rounding up the Papuan utable to a decrease in the intensity students in a dormitory in Yogyakarta of the work of Papuan leaders in the in 2016 (Maharani 2016), and its international lobby arena. Surabaya branch was now taking part While political events remain the in the protests against Papuan students focus of media attention, another big in Surabaya. During the Surabaya news item from Papua is the after- incident of 1 December 2018, the math of the prolonged negotiation police did not allow the proxies to act over Freeport Indonesia’s divestment. above the law after they attacked the Having secured an initial agreement Papuan student dormitories. Instead with Freeport Indonesia’s parent com- they arrested dozens of attackers for pany, Freeport-McMoRan, to divest in vandalizing properties. However, 2017, the Jokowi government man- the police also arrested and detained aged to take the agreement one step overnight more than three hundred further by signing a major deal with Papuan students for holding a gath- the company consisting of three issues: ering to commemorate what they divestment of Freeport Indonesia, refer to as Papuan independence day becoming a shareholder of Freeport (Firman 2018a). Indonesia, and buying shares of Rio If we juxtapose police treatment of Tinto Indonesia. This landmark deci- Papuan students in Jayapura against sion has given power to Indonesia to that in Surabaya, we can see little have full control over the subsidiary’s difference. In both cases, the police future following Freeport-McMoRan’s did not hesitate to use excessive force free reign since 1967. It is therefore against unarmed students who had understandable that the deal did not political reviews • melanesia 539 come easily, having gone through ing issue, a report in the investigative tough negotiations between the magazine TEMPO reveals the devas- Indonesian government and Freeport- tating impact of this industry in South McMoRan (Sulistyowati 2018, 28). Papua, especially Boven Digoel district The deal, however, did not receive (Silalahi, Hermawan, and Ferdianto much appreciation from the public 2018). The report exposes the prob- (Lingga 2018). The opposition simply lems with Malaysia’s Menara Group dismissed the deal by labeling it as having obtained control over 2,800 window dressing by the government square kilometers of land—more than to win the coming election. They even twice the surface area of New York accused the government of misinform- City (1,213 square kilometers)—in ing the public because the acquisition this district during the last decade. It did not actually happen. An observer should be noted, however, that this labelled this accusation as “distorted” encroaching company’s activity is and “insulting people’s intelligence” inseparable from the ongoing opera- because the opposition’s accusation tions of other permit holders in the did not work according to law. Other area, such as Korindo, which is much observers, however, insisted that more established. the deal does not necessarily benefit The report identifies seven prob- Papuans and even called it “idiotic” lematic behaviors of Menara Group because the government simply pur- and its subsidiary companies (Silalahi, chased its own property (Nathaniel Hermawan, and Ferdianto 2018). 2018). First, they acquire general business Papuans hold various views. Some permits instead of activity-specific argue that Papuans should have been permits, meaning they are not entitled consulted, as they were not present to extract natural resources. Second, during any negotiations between Free- they use fictitious names for com- port-McMoRan and the government. pany directors and commissioners, A member of the Papuan Provincial often borrowing the names of former Council argued that Papua should cleaning staff or drivers without their be given 40 percent instead of the 10 consent. Tacitly, Menara Group’s ceo percent shares of Freeport Indonesia acknowledged this practice, arguing as agreed (Mawel 2018). Papuan that “not all members have money” activists and Papuan students seem to (Silalahi, Hermawan, and Ferdianto be paying less attention to this issue 2018, 23). The ceo “used fictitious compared to the previous generation. names in order to secure general While Freeport Indonesia is the permits as soon as possible to start most important mining project for his company. Once the permits are Papua and even Indonesia, it is not obtained, the company will change all the only extractive industry that has names to those who have money to deeply affected Papua livelihoods. invest,” explained Frank Samperante, Another equally concerning issue director of the Jakarta-based nongov- that reflects the system of exemption ernmental organization Pusaka (pers is the politics of permits for oil palm comm, 25 Feb 2019). Third, they plantations. Though this is an ongo- extend general permits in order to 540 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) obtain forest concessions, acquiring insisted that the authority remains in land until they exceed the legal limits the hands of the Indonesian national of land concession. government. Therefore, he threatened Fourth, the companies persuade to file a lawsuit against the regional local communities to accept their governments. On the contrary, Envi- presence and promises. For example, ronment and Forestry Minister Siti in 2013 Menara Group sent a mes- Nurbaya clearly explained that “min- senger carrying Rp1.74 billion ing permits (iup) are the authority (us$124,000) in cash to be distributed of regional governments” (Silalahi, to the communities as “solidarity Hermawan, and Ferdianto 2018, 20). money,” together with two pigs and The case of Menara Group encap- various staples (Silalahi, Hermawan, sulates the persistent pattern of land and Ferdianto 2018, 17). The villag- grabbing in Papua. TEMPO’s report ers were effectively bribed with the has also revealed that Zulkifli Hassan, gifts, so they raised no concerns when the chair of the National Mandate Menara Group asked them to sign a Party, issued thirty-six permits for blank paper. Later, the company used Papua out of one hundred and forty- the signatures as proof of the lease of five permits all over Indonesia during customary land. his time as the forestry minister under Fifth, the companies sell their the administration of President Susilo permits to other companies before Bambang Yudhoyono. This is the they actually do any exploration. This highest number of permits a minister tactic is a form of tax evasion. Sixth, has issued since Suharto’s period. The they create special-purpose vehicle number of permits for Papua covers companies in tax-free zones in order an area as large as 89,000 square to ease transfers and reduce sales and kilometers, or slightly larger than purchase taxes. Finally, they only Portugal’s territory (88,941 square clear the forest in order to get timber kilometers). (Silalahi, Hermawan, and Ferdianto This scandalous land grabbing 2018, 15). All of these patterns have affirms the nature of the system of detrimental effects on both the inhab- exemption in the area of land acquisi- itants of and the habitats around the tion in Papua. Just like in the politi- concession areas. cal sphere, in the sphere of natural Unlike the previous regent, the resources, the law only benefits the current regent of Boven Digoel acted vested interests of politicians, busi- in a decisive manner by revoking the nessmen, and bureaucrats but not permits of subsidiary companies in those of indigenous Papuans. The July 2017 because they have yet to convolution of these actors resembles grow oil palms and also because of a mafia network. The continuous rejection by the community (Silalahi, opposition from the indigenous Pap- Hermawan, and Ferdianto 2018, 20). uan community against this mafia is The governor of Papua revoked other easily defeated. Corporations employ permits of the Menara Group in 2018. enticing tactics to divide and rule In responding to the regional govern- the community despite the ongoing ments’ decisions, Menara Group’s ceo campaign of church leaders who political reviews • melanesia 541 forbid their congregation members to community refused to have any direct sell their land. One of the strongest negotiations with the Christians, proponents against land sales has been although they accepted any decisions Bishop John Saklil of Timika, who taken by the mediation team and the started the public campaign “Stop local government. The Christian com- jual tanah” (Stop selling your land) munity was prepared to have dialogue (Mawel 2017). Similarly, the ongoing with the Muslims. campaign of environmentalist nongov- Based on these separate negotia- ernmental organizations (ngos) seems tions, the mediation team compiled futile since their data and analyses five key points of agreement between have not led to significant policy the two communities: (1) the minarets changes that give more protection would not be erected; (2) the petition to indigenous people. None of these from the Churches would be submit- organizations have taken any legal ted to the regent for further consider- action against corporations in 2018, ation; (3) places of worship that reflect said Samperante (pers comm, 25 Feb the Regency of Jayapura’s principle 2019), although a few lawsuits were role as a zone of integrity and har- submitted to the court in the previous mony should be constructed; (4) the years. regency should promote interfaith Apart from the typical problems activities; and (5) a local regulation that Papua has had to confront, it has that governs and promotes har- experienced a new phenomenon that mony among different faiths should has been largely under the surface: be issued (tmkj 2018). The state- religious tension between the Christian ment was submitted to the regent of and Muslim communities. While the Jayapura for follow-up. latter is the largest religious com- The minaret construction, however, munity in Indonesia, it is a minority was not the only incident that signaled in Papua, where few tensions have the potential for interfaith conflict. surfaced in recent years. However, a Later in the month, a Papuan ustaz flame was sparked in March 2018 (Islamic religious scholar), Fadlan when the Christian churches around Garamatan, made a public statement Jayapura issued a letter of protest that infuriated the whole indigenous demanding that the plan to erect four Papuan community, including Muslim hundred-meter-tall minarets at Al- Papuans. He claimed that he success- Aqsha mosque in Sentani be stopped. fully trained Asmat people to use soap Together with the regent of Jayapura, for taking baths because “the mis- the top leaders of both communities sionaries taught them to rub pork fat moved quickly to confine the flame. over their bodies as ‘bathing’ instead They agreed to establish a mediation of pouring water” (Wartaplus.com team consisting of most of the senior 2018). As a response, the Christian Christian and Muslim figures in Jaya- community around Jayapura orga- pura to mend the tension. The team nized a public demonstration. They managed to organize separate meet- not only demanded an apology from ings with both communities to clarify the ustaz but also called on the local and ease the dispute. The Muslim authorities to arrest him for blas- 542 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) phemy (tmkj 2018). The Wahhabi did not camp in the Tolikara area but ustaz eventually offered an apology. rather anchored his presence at the Interestingly, he offered his remorse outskirts of Jayapura, where he has to the chair of the Papua chapter of undertaken dakwah (proselytism) ever the Indonesian Ulema Council, Ustaz since. He seems to be untouchable. Payage, not to the Christian commu- If we put these incidents under the nity. Meanwhile, the police did not lens of the system of exemption, it take any legal action against him. becomes apparent that the religious Further, the statement of the tension in Papua also fits into this Christian community also touched category. In contrast to the rapid on the issue of Ja’far Umar Thalib, response of the police and the gov- the former commander of the Islamic ernment in other parts of Indonesia extremist militia Laskar Jihad in to accommodate pressure from the Ambon. This militia fought the Chris- Muslim majority, Papuans do not tian militia during one of the most enjoy such a privilege, despite being violent conflicts in the post-Suharto the majority in their own land. On the era. The community explicitly asked contrary, the indigenous Papuans are the Papua police chief to expel him the ones forced to adjust and toler- from Papua. The request was not ate, not the ones who dictate and entirely new. On the contrary, it reiter- dominate. ated the same demand that all Islamic The whole system of exemption is organizations in Papua had expressed nothing but a time bomb. It has exac- in 2016 (Tabloid Jubi 2016). During erbated the sense of injustice among a meeting of the Forum of Interfaith the indigenous Papuans, as they Leaders for Harmony in Jayapura, all feel the law does not protect them. leaders expressed their concerns over Conversely, the law benefits those Thalib’s presence in Jayapura, as it who control land permits, the state reminded them of his dark past during authorities, and Indonesia’s religious the violent conflict in Ambon. majority. If these grievances are not Unlike many Papuans who are not addressed properly, the situation will aware of his presence and background, likely explode sooner rather than later Ridwan al-Makassary traced back into social unrest and other forms the history that explained why Thalib of violence. moved to Papua (2017). He discov- budi hernawan ered that the Tolikara incident was the turning point. This was the clash between the Christian and Muslim References communities in Tolikara as the Mus- lims celebrated the end of Ramadan in All websites accessed 17 April 2019. July 2015. Having been driven by his Aspinall, Edward, and Gerry van Klinken, jihad to defend his Muslim brothers editors. 2011. The State and Illegality in and sisters, Thalib arrived in Tol- Indonesia. Leiden, Netherlands: kitlv ikara to assess the situation. Because Press. Tolikara was handled properly by cnn Indonesia. 2018. Baku Tembak di both communities’ leaders, Thalib Bandara Nduga-Papua, 3 Warga Tewas. political reviews • melanesia 543
25 June. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ academia/2018/12/27/looking-at nasional/20180625132203-20-308822/ -freeport-deal-through-distorted-lens-of baku-tembak-di-bandara-nduga-papua -politics.html -3-warga-tewas Maharani, Shinta. 2016. Mahasiswa Cribb, Robert. 2011. A System of Exemp- Papua Dikepung, Warga Kampung Yogya tions: Historizing State Illegality in Indone- Kirim Makanan. Tempo.co, 16 July. sia. In The State and Illegality in Indone- https://nasional.tempo.co/read/788008/ sia, edited by Edward Aspinall and Gerry mahasiswa-papua-dikepung-warga van Klinken, 31–44. Leiden, Netherlands: -kampung-yogya-kirim-makanan/ kitlv Press. full&view=ok Firman, Tony. 2018a. Nationalist Militia al-Makassary, Ridwan. 2017. Insiden Attack Papuan Pro-Independence Rally Tolikara and Ja’far Umar Thalib: Kontro- in Surabaya. Asia Pacific Report, versi Mushalla yang “dibakar” dan Drama 2 December. https://asiapacificreport.nz/ Jihad di Tanah Papua. Jakarta: Kemen- 2018/12/02/nationalist-thugs-attack trian Agama Provinsi Papua. -papuan-pro-independence-rally-in Mawel, Benny. 2017. Papuan Bishop Calls -surabaya/ on People to Stop Selling Land. uca News, ———. 2018b. Peringatan 1 Desember 5 July. https://www.ucanews.com/news/ Papua, Demo amp Surabaya Diadang papuan-bishop-calls-on-people-to-stop pp & fkppi. Tirto.id, 1 December. -selling-land/79671 https://tirto.id/peringatan-1-desember ———. 2018. Papua lebih pantas dapat -papua-demo-amp-surabaya-diadang 40 persen saham Freeport. Tabloid Jubi, -pp-amp-fkppi-daNJ 23 July. https://www.jubi.co.id/papua Gumilang, Prima. 2018. Pesawat -lebih-pantas-dapat-40-persen-saham Dimonim Ditembak Saat Mendarat di -freeport/ Bandara Keyam Papua. cnn Indonesia, Nathaniel, Felix. 2018. Akuisisi Saham 23 June. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ Freeport Tak Serta Merta Untungkan nasional/20180623053606-20-308280/ Masyarakat Papua. Tirto.id, 23 December. pesawat-dimonim-ditembak-saat https://tirto.id/akuisisi-saham-freeport-tak -mendarat-di-bandara-keyam-papua -serta-merta-untungkan-masyarakat Hadi, Syafiul, and Maya Ayu. 2018. opm -papua-dctu Admits Deadly Attack, Demand Indepen- Silalahi, M, Erwan Hermawan, and Ricky dence. Tempo.co, 6 December. http://en Ferdianto. 2018. Oil Palm Foul Play. .tempo.co/read/924057/opm-admits TEMPO, 3 December. -deadly-attack-demand-independence Sulistyowati, Retno. 2018. Scrutinizing the icp, International Coalition for Papua. Agreement. TEMPO, 2 October. 2019. Human Rights Update West Papua—January 2019. Wuppertal: icp. Tabloid Jubi. 2016. Umat Beragama http://www.humanrightspapua.org/images/ Kota Jayapura Tolak Kehadiran Ja’far docs/Human%20Rights%20Update Umar Thalib. 29 January. https://www %20West%20Papua%20January .tabloidjubi.com/16/2016/01/29/umat %202019.pdf -beragama-kota-jayapura-tolak-kehadiran Lingga, Vincent. 2018. Looking at Free- -jafar-umar-thalib/ port Deal through Distorted Lens Tehusijarana, Karina M. 2018. of Politics. Jakarta Post, 27 December. Papua Mass Killing: What Happened. https://www.thejakartapost.com/ Jakarta Post, 7 December. https://www 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 Wartaplus.com. 2018. Kata-kata Uztaz emergency responses to natural disas- 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 Wismabrata, Michael Hangga. 2018. corruption at various levels, upticks in 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. building and the uniquely designed Attainment of something like the apec Haus, built in the shape of a special autonomy arrangement cur- lagatoi vessel sail on reclaimed land rently in place in Bougainville has near the freshly renovated Ela Beach. been the focus of several other prov- Announcements of other projects to be inces for many years. For example, launched came at the apec summit’s in East New Britain Province and conclusion. However, many projects as illustrated by the activities of the were already in the works, with China Mataungan Society (see Epstein 1970), being the most conspicuous funder this has been a dream since before the and partner. While Australia is still realization of independence, as official Papua New Guinea’s largest aid donor decentralization of powers through and trading partner, private Chinese the granting of special autonomy companies have been contracted to do was launched during ceremonies at numerous building projects around Kokopo on 2 October. The provinces Papua New Guinea for many years, of Manus and West New Britain are and both corporate and individual exploring ways to receive greater investors from the Asian powerhouse powers, while the provinces of New have become heavily entrenched in Ireland and Enga are taking part in the economic growth of the country an official process to grant greater in both rural areas and urban centers. autonomy through devolution of China’s government has been officially powers, which was initiated by the engaged as well, and it “has pledged Inter Government Agreement signed some us$5.9 billion on more than by O’Neill in July (O’Keeffe 2018). 200 projects in the region since 2011” Many questions still remain over what (Campbell 2018). legal definitions and mechanisms In June, the PNG government pro- will look like under such arrange- cured a loan of k463 million (us$145 ments and whether their realization million) from China’s Export Import in the present is more representative Bank, better known as Exim, to fund of contemporary political maneuver- the installation of electricity transmis- ings such as increased factionalization sion infrastructure, including 189 along regional lines by political elites kilometers of power lines and four (O’Keeffe 2018). Despite the confu- substations in the Western Highlands sion of such pronouncements without and Hela Provinces (Taime 2018). detailed explanations, the most certain Later that same month, Prime Min- fact is that such processes will not ister O’Neill paved the way for the include options for independence. development and maintenance of a Development efforts across the series of improvements by signing on country seemed to increase in 2018. to China’s One Belt, One Road initia- This is in no small part due to the tive, a massive network of develop- 548 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) ment projects across sixty countries. nies to open two Chinese-funded Later, Chinese telecommunications projects: a new school and a six-lane firm Huawei was contracted to lay road leading directly to Parliament a submarine internet cable to run Haus. Meanwhile, the president of around the country’s coastlines, con- the United States, Donald Trump, necting fourteen coastal towns and sent Vice President Mike Pence to providing an international link to Port Moresby in his place, and the Jayapura. The project is valued at an president of the Russian Federation, estimated us$200 million and is also Vladimir Putin, opted to dispatch to be financed by Exim (rnz 2018c). Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev in The plan to install such a cable came his stead. Early announcements from at the behest of Australia and the US officials further stated that Vice United States, who made counter President Pence would attend day- offers to oversee the project’s develop- time meetings but would fly in and ment and warned that Huawei’s tele- out of Cairns, Australia. This plan communications infrastructure could was eventually changed so that Pence be used for purposes of espionage. would spend one night in Papua New Minister of State Investment William Guinea, quite possibly to save face, Duma called the efforts to dissuade as President Xi planned to spend four Papua New Guinea from honoring days in the country. its contract after work had already The hosting of the apec summit begun “patronizing” (rnz 2018g). by the organization’s second-newest The increase in Chinese involvement member, which is widely viewed as in similar projects around the world “the member country that can least has been a hot-button point of discus- afford it” (Griffith 2018), brought sion, and the same can be said for unprecedented media coverage to the Papua New Guinea and the Pacific country as media outlets worldwide Islands region, where concerns include descended on Port Moresby to cover what this new influence will mean the events of the summit. Early ques- to existing relationships, how debts tions focused on whether the devel- incurred in development plans might oping nation would even be able to affect control over resources, and pull off the event, citing the massive what role related obligations will play logistic challenges of hosting such a when it comes to issues of sovereignty. large number of delegations and the That said, the increased presence of attached reporters, security personnel, China in the region “demonstrates the and other involved parties. Several region’s significance to Beijing’s think- years of planning paid off as the PNG ing” (Campbell 2018). Immigration and Citizenship Author- Illustrative of China’s increased ity rolled out new protocols and focus on Oceania is the fact that Chi- technologies to process some 46,000 nese President Xi Jinping announced arrivals (Post-Courier 2018b), many that he would be staying in Port of whom were put up in three char- Moresby for the duration of the apec tered cruise liners and transported to summit, even arriving early to hold venues in hundreds of vehicles pro- meetings and participate in ceremo- cured just for the event. These prepa- political reviews • melanesia 549 rations were not without controversy, Guinea and the Pacific” through this however, as the one thousand vehicles and other large scale events. He fur- purchased included forty new Mase- ther stated that the PNG government rati luxury sports cars flown directly took on the summit knowing it would from Italy on a pair of chartered 747 be a massive challenge for such a small jumbo jets, as well as three Bentleys. country, but it did so in order to fulfill The use of government funds on these obligations as a member; to put a and other big-ticket items while rural positive spotlight on the country and clinics experienced profound medica- its people and resources while elevat- tion shortages, especially drugs for ing regional issues of trade, financial treating tuberculosis, and diseases like facilitation, and climate change miti- polio and leprosy—once again diag- gation; and to encourage future invest- nosed in the country long after they ments in the country (Abel 2018). were believed to have been eradi- Hopes that investments as a result cated—raised the ire of many in the of apec exposure would be greater general public. Calls for work boy- than the investment to host the event cotts echoed across social media and drove many leaders and supporters of were realized on Friday 26 October the move. Large investments like the when citizens vented their outrage at Maseratis were also justified by high- what was painted as a government lighting the fact that the government scandal by leaving thousands of offices would sell them immediately after the and desks empty for one day. Even meetings and therefore break even. some visiting delegates took issue with The issues surrounding the purchase the expenses, such as New Zealand of the Maseratis remained salient even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who after the summit, as emtv journalist vowed that she would not ride in one Scott Waide, generally regarded as of the Maseratis. Blogger and activist one of Papua New Guinea’s best, was Martyn Namorong told the Guard- suspended from duties at the appar- ian that “there are a lot of people, not ent direction of the government after just in Port Moresby but around PNG a broadcast in which he reported on who are outraged by the spending on the vehicles in a manner that was apec which seems to be extravagant” deemed unfavorable. As a state-owned and that “many people feel it’s not entity, emtv management was obli- been clearly articulated to them what gated to follow the instruction but did the benefits of apec will be” (Lyons so unwillingly (Moses 2018). Waide 2018). was subsequently reinstated. While In a June speech at the Lowy all of the high-end luxury vehicles Institute in Sydney, Australia, Deputy have been turned in to the Central Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Supplies Tender Board, the branch of Abel outlined his vision, justifying the Ministry of Finance dealing with apec spending as a symbol of eco- physical assets, approximately one- nomic recovery that ought to be “seen tenth of the total vehicles have not as a combination of sorts, of an effort been returned (Australian Associated to bring focused investment, tourism, Press 2019). Even if assets are resold and engagement for Papua New at or near to their original value, the 550 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) total cost of hosting the apec summit of international diplomacy (Harriman may never be known, as Opposition 2018). Member of Parliament and Governor Just prior to the anticlimactic end of Oro Province Gary Juffa’s demands to the apec summit, several attending that the government submit a detailed states announced various partner- report to Parliament have not been ships, scholarships, and development met (rnz 2018b). aid. Most pertinent to Papua New Although preparations for the apec Guinea was the multilateral partner- summit were rife with controversy, ship between Papua New Guinea, the meetings themselves seemed to Australia, Japan, and New Zealand move forward without issue. There to continue to expand the country’s were no major security breaches, electric grid. The project is worth and Port Moresby’s working citi- us$1.16 billion and will extend power zens even enjoyed a public holiday services to 75 percent of the popula- at the conclusion of the event. There tion (rnz 2018a), thus going a long was some controversy in the meet- way toward helping the government ings themselves. For example, non- realize its existing goal to deliver Chinese journalists, including local electric power to 70 percent of the PNG reporters, were dismissed from country’s population by 2030. Aus- a meeting of Pacific leaders while tralia also announced a scholarship Chinese news agencies were allowed for Pacific students and an extension to remain in the room. Indeed, the and expansion of the Federal Police interactions of the Chinese delegation Training program. Perhaps the most with other states captured the full surprising proclamation of aid and attention of the press, and the ire of development was Australia and Papua some diplomats, especially as ten- New Guinea’s announcement regard- sions mounted from political joust- ing the refurbishment of the Lombrum ing between China and the United Naval Base in Manus Province, which States on issues of policy and trade. was soon followed by US Vice Presi- These diplomatic spats resulted in the dent Mike Pence’s declaration that the summit concluding without a joint project would become a joint venture communiqué for the first time in the between the three states. Indonesian event’s history. Opposition leader authorities quickly expressed concern Patrick Pruaitch and allied ministers over the base expansion, as it would of Parliament, including former be close to their territorial claims Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta, and near strategic shipping lanes and criticized Prime Minister O’Neill would possibly disrupt trade and for not fulfilling his role as chair to create or exacerbate international facilitate agreements between the two tensions (Laksmana 2018). Perhaps superpowers and for providing China no one was more shocked to hear of with extra opportunities to shine the expansion than Manus Governor during President Xi’s state visit just Charlie Benjamin, who noted that before the meeting commenced. The neither he nor his people had been O’Neill government responded that consulted and stated his opinion that critics were ignorant of the processes the plan is “ill conceived” and that, political reviews • melanesia 551
“while upgrade of the Lombrum naval spent their sixth Christmas in facilities base would make Manus become a on Manus Island. Detailed informa- significant security shield for Australia tion regarding the number and living and USA, there is no real justification situation of those remaining in Manus for it for the Manus people” (Post- are difficult, as sources are generally Courier 2018a). vague and sometimes contradictory. As previously stated, a massive Despite efforts to bring their plight security presence of domestic and to the attention of world leaders and international personnel ensured that media outlets during the apec pro- the apec proceedings and assets were ceedings, the situation of the Manus protected without major incident. asylum seekers was generally over- Within forty-eight hours of the meet- shadowed in the international press ing’s conclusion, a break in the calm by asylum seekers housed in Nauru. over Port Moresby came as military Several groups of the all-male contin- and police personnel gathered at a gency of asylum seekers still in Papua local sporting facility to air griev- New Guinea were resettled in batches, ances over missing pay for services usually numbering between ten and during the event. A large contingent of twenty individuals. Approximately one officers then proceeded to make their hundred men were able to relocate in way to Parliament Haus, where they 2018, mostly to the United States, but vented their frustration by bashing roughly five hundred are still housed cars, smashing the building’s windows in facilities in the East Lorengau and doors, harassing employees, and Transit Centre on Manus. Numerous walking away with office items like suicide attempts, some twenty-seven cold-water dispensers. The unrest in the latter half of November (Rob- was manifest in other parts of the inson-Drawbridge 2018), and some city as opportunists caused prob- successful suicides had pre viously lems knowing that police responses highlighted the growing despair, dete- would be minimal (Davidson 2018). riorating mental health, and hopeless- Parliament Speaker Job Pomat esti- ness of a large number of those still on mated the value of damage to the the island. capitol building at k10–15 million However, some of the refugees (approximately us$325,000–488,000) have willingly engaged with the local (Nicholas 2018). Eleven police officers community, and a handful have were subsequently arrested for pos- married local women and started session of items stolen from Parlia- families. Some of those resettled are ment (emtv Online 2018), but the also believed to have left behind wide-ranging punishment sought by children. Reports of the total number National Capitol District Governor of children fathered by asylum seek- Powes Parkop does not appear to have ers are contradictory. The Citizenship eventuated (Davidson 2018), likely and Immigration Services Authority because some one hundred to three recognizes seven children with asylum- hundred individuals may have been seeker fathers, while local leaders of involved. the Catholic Church have asserted that Would-be refugees to Australia as many as thirty-nine babies have 552 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) been born. Church leaders also claim References that birth certificates for these children Abel, Charles. 2018. Charles Abel on are incredibly hard to get and are Papua New Guinea in the Year of apec. possibly being denied by government Speech given at the Lowy Institute, Sydney, authorities from the National Iden- Australia, 18 June. Audio available from tification Office (Togiba and Cheng https://www.lowyinstitute.org/news-and 2018). Long-term futures for those -media/multimedia/audio/charles-abel still on Manus are unclear, as most -papua-new-guinea-year-apec [accessed continue to express a desire to leave 19 Jan 2019] but resettlement processes are slower Australian Associated Press. Tenth of than they desire. PNG’s apec Cars Missing. Newcastle The close of 2018 marked another Herald, 18 January. https://www.theherald turbulent year of stark contrasts, .com.au/story/5857617/tenth-of-pngs-apec with Papua New Guinea success- -cars-missing [accessed 3 May 2019] fully pulling off an enormous inter- Campbell, Charlie. 2018. apec Leaders governmental meeting in the capital Are Descending on the Pacific’s New without major incident while infra- Geopolitical Battleground, Papua New structure and medical resources Guinea. Time, 14 November. http://time waned, especially in rural areas. The .com/5453956/apec-summit-2018-papua promises of several large development -new-guinea-png/ [accessed 18 Jan 2019] projects were met, while other proj- Chandler, Jo. 2018. Unprecedented ects faced discontinuation or protests. Violence and Fraud “Hijacked” 2017 PNG The current government’s focus on Election—Report. Guardian, 29 October. developing extractive industries as a https://www.theguardian.com/world/ foundation for the national economy 2018/oct/30/unprecedented-violence-and is increasing both the national budget -hijacked-2017-png-election-report and national debt and is a gamble [accessed 31 Jan 2019] that will have long-term ramifications. Davidson, Helen. 2018. Papua New The tenure of the O’Neill govern- Guinea Unrest Continues with Gunfire in ment may be at stake, as Opposi- Port Moresby. Guardian, 21 November. tion leaders were already moving https://www.theguardian.com/world/ to hold a vote of no confidence in 2018/nov/22/papua-new-guinea-unrest the early part of 2019. While Papua -continues-with-gunfire-in-port-moresby New Guinea is proving an increasing [accessed 21 Jan 2019] capacity to engage with larger com- emtv Online. 2018. Police Officers peting world powers overseas and at Arrested and Charged for Being in home, the perceived uneven nature Possession of Stolen Items. YouTube, of the distribution of benefits will 25 November. https://www.youtube.com/ likely determine the longevity of the watch?v=oZ4mC1YWNSk [accessed current stewards of the government 21 Jan 2019] and whether their large development Epstein, A L. 1970. Autonomy and gambles will pay off. Identity: Aspects of Political Development james stiefvater on the Gazelle Peninsula. Anthropological Forum 2 (4): 427–443. political reviews • melanesia 553
Griffith, James. 2018. apec Is Being Held 19 October. https://www.lowyinstitute by the Member Country that Can Least .org/the-interpreter/deciding-future-png Afford It. cnn, 13 November. https://www -provinces [accessed 28 Nov 2018] .cnn.com/2018/11/13/asia/papua-new Poiya, Johnny. 2018. 13 Arrested for -guinea-apec-summit-intl/index.html Mendi Mayhem. Post-Courier, 2 August. [accessed 12 Jan 2019] https://postcourier.com.pg/13-arrested Hakalits, Sebastian. 2018. No Turning -mendi-mayhem/ [accessed 4 Feb 2019] Back for Bougainville. Post-Courier, Post-Courier. 2018a. Manus Takes Pre- 25 March. https://postcourier.com.pg/ caution. 21 December. https://postcourier no-turning-back-bougainville/ [accessed .com.pg/manus-takes-precaution/ 17 Jan 2019] [accessed 22 Dec 2018] Harriman, Bethanie. 2018. PNG’s Opposi- ———. 2018b. PNG’s Immigration tion Slams Peter O’Neill over apec “Fail- and Citizenship Authority. 31 December. ure.” abc Pacific Beat, 20 November. https://postcourier.com.pg/pngs https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/ -immigration-citizenship-authority/ programs/pacificbeat/png-opposition-apec [accessed 13 Jan 2019] -failure/10513254 [accessed 20 Jan 2019] Rnz, Radio New Zealand. 2018a. apec Laksmana, Evan A. 2018. Indonesia Has Ends in Flurry of Announcements. Date- a Stake in Australia’s Lombrum Plans Too. line Pacific, 20 November. https://www The Interpreter, 22 January. https://www .radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/ .lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/ datelinepacific/audio/2018672026/apec indonesia-has-stake-australia-lobrum -ends-in-flurry-of-announcements -plans-too [accessed 21 Jan 2019] [accessed 20 Jan 2019] Lyons, Kate. 2018. “Can They Really Pull It Off?”: The apec Summit Comes to ———.2018b. Call for PNG Govt to Papua New Guinea. Guardian, 11 Novem- Disclose Cost of apec for Taxpayers. ber. https://www.theguardian.com/world/ Dateline Pacific, 26 November. 2018/nov/12/can-they-really-pull-it-off-the https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ -apec-summit-comes-to-papua-new-guinea programmes/datelinepacific/audio/ [accessed 3 Jan 2019] 2018672873/call-for-png-govt-to-disclose -cost-of-apec-for-taxpayers [accessed Moses, Vincent. 2018. emtv Suspends 20 Jan 2019] Senior Journalist Scott Waide over NZ Maserati News Story. Asia Pacific Report, ———. 2018c. China’s Huawei to Con- 25 November. https://asiapacificreport struct PNG Internet Cable. 14 August. .nz/2018/11/25/emtv-suspends-senior https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ -journalist-scott-waide-over-maserati pacific-news/364013/china-s-huawei-to -news-story/ [accessed 19 Jan 2019] -construct-png-internet-cable [accessed 7 Jan 2019] Nicholas, Isaac. 2018. Damage to Parlia- ment to Cost Govt up to k15m. Post- ———. 2018d. Greater Autonomy for Courier, 29 November. https://postcourier Bougainville Still To Be Defined. Dateline .com.pg/damage-parliament-cost-govt Pacific, 18 October. https://www.radionz -k15m/ [accessed 3 Jan 2019] .co.nz/international/programmes/ datelinepacific/audio/2018667288/greater O’Keeffe, Annmaree. 2018. Deciding the -autonomy-for-bougainville-still-to-be Future for PNG’s Provinces. Interpreter, -defined [accessed 7 Jan 2018] 554 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
———. 2018e. Manam Island Chief Solomon Islands Doubts Govt Will Help. 28 December. https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ The year 2018 was marked by the pacific-news/379121/manam-island-chief expectation that the newly formed -doubts-govt-will-help [accessed 28 Dec Solomon Islands Democratic Coali- 2018] tion for Change Government (sidccg) under the prime ministership of Rick ———. 2018f. PNG Quake Disaster Response a Huge Logistical Challenge. Hou would deliver on its promises. Dateline Pacific, 17 August. https://www When it came into office in Novem- .radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/ ber 2017, the sidccg “made strong datelinepacific/audio/2018658444/png emphasis on integrity in leadership -quake-disaster-response-a-huge-logistical and governance” (sidccg 2017). As -challenge [accessed 30 Dec 2018] part of its policy implementation, it promised to pursue stabilization of ———. 2018g. PNG Resists Pressure, Sticks with Huawei. 28 November. the country’s fiscal situation, restora- https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ tion of basic services to rural areas, pacific-news/376997/png-resists-pressure the passing of a number of outstand- -sticks-with-huawei [accessed 19 Jan 2019] ing pieces of legislation, including the anti-corruption bill, and work on the ———. 2018h. PNG’s pm Says Bougain- undersea fiber-optic internet cable ville Referendum Will Be Endorsed. project with Australia. The sidccg’s 7 April. https://www.radionz.co.nz/ international/pacific-news/354380/png-s formation was basically a replica of -pm-says-bougainville-referendum-will-be the regime led by Manasseh Sogavare, -endorsed [accessed 17 Jan 2019] which was ousted in a no-confidence vote in November 2017 but remained Robinson-Drawbridge, Benjamin. 2018. intact and joined forces with Hou’s More than 27 Suicide Attempts in Two political grouping to form the new Weeks - Manus Refugee. Radio New Zea- government (rnz 2017). While the land, 5 December. https://www.radionz .co.nz/international/pacific-news/377567/ sidccg was determined to work more-than-27-suicide-attempts-in-two together as a coalition pack for a -weeks-manus-refugee one-year term, the challenge was to effectively implement its policies and Taime, Mal. 2018. O’Neill Launches achieve related objectives (see sidccg k463m Project. Post-Courier, 7 June. 2017). It was against this background https://postcourier.com.pg/oneill-launches that the sidccg took a pragmatic -k463m-project/ [accessed 18 Jan 2019] approach in pursuing the implemen- Togiba, Lyanne, and Michelle Cheng. tation of its policies in 2018 (see 2018. Life in Limbo: The Manus Babies sidccg 2017). Who Face a Stateless Future. Guardian, Solomon Islands as a country is 12 December. https://www.theguardian vulnerable to earthquakes, cyclones, .com/australia-news/2018/dec/13/life-in and other disasters such as floods -limbo-the-manus-babies-who-face-a and tsunamis. On 24 January 2018, -stateless-future [accessed 14 Jan 2019] the country experienced a tropical depression. According to the National Disaster Management Office, the political reviews • melanesia 555
“highest cumulative rainfall . . . and growth needs of the country” occurred between the 24–28 January (Ragaruma 2018). Fiscal strictness in 29 wards, across Central, West- was applied to the budget, which ern, Malaita, Isabel and Guadalcanal resulted in cuts to the development provinces” (sindmo 2018b). There budget and in specific sectors such was heavy rain and strong wind, as agriculture and health (Ragaruma which caused damage to gardens and 2018). Such fiscal strictness measures housing, but the impact was consid- were not applied to “constituency ered minimal. On 1 March 2018, development funds, national transport heavy rain caused flooding across fund, scholarship, discretionary fund Honiara. The flooding affected many budget lines” (Ragaruma 2018). As a low-lying areas, causing damage to result, this has contributed to exces- eight homes and the displacement of sive government spending of public fifteen people (sindmo 2018a). These funds. Government finance during the are recurring events that happen every third quarter of 2018 was at a “deficit year. The Solomon Islands government of $159 million compared to a deficit has taken steps to address these events of $2 million in the June quarter. This through a disaster risk reduction and negative outturn was primarily due to management framework. For example, the significant increase in government it reviewed its National Disaster Risk expenditure outrunning the growth in Management Plan 2009 and came revenue collection during the quarter” up with the new National Disaster (cbsi 2018c). This is unsurprising Management Plan 2018. Under the because the government had a track 2018 plan, the focus is on disaster record of excessive spending. For management with an emphasis on example, the media reported that “the preparedness, response, recovery, and government has been spending $4 mil- rehabilitation. Moreover, the Sendai lion a year to lavishly feed members Framework for Disaster Risk Reduc- of Cabinet and Caucus during their tion 2015–2030 is featured within the weekly meetings” (Fanasia 2018e). In new plan. November, the media reported that the The government passed a budget government used “$2.7 million to pay of si$3.7 billion (si$1 million = for Prime Minister Ricky Hou and his us$123,000) in April 2018, with delegation to the recent apec sum- “[si$]3 billion under the recurrent mit in Papua New Guinea” (Fanasia head and the development budget 2018a). reach[ing] $700 million” (Laungi Prime Minister Hou envisaged that 2018). Such a huge budget would the country’s economy would grow allow the government to spend money by 3 percent in 2018. However, he “according to its programs aligned pointed out that “in Solomon Islands to its policy” (Laungi 2018). How- context high inflation and popula- ever, Transparency Solomon Islands tion growth cancel out any potential pointed out that the budget “pays very growth benefits” (rnz 2018e). The little or no attention at all to issues, Central Bank of Solomon Islands’ and concerns of national interest, (cbsi) production index shows the and the social-economic development country’s domestic production activ- 556 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) ity declining. For the first quarter that the government declare a state of of 2018, the index indicated that emergency (see Sto 2018; sibc 2018). “domestic production activities . . . Dr Steve Aumanu, the chief executive increased further by 4% to 113 points officer of the National Referral Hos- in the March quarter from 109 points pital, explained that the drug shortage in the previous quarter” (cbsi 2018b). was due to “variation in the admin- This was a result of “improved per- istrative process,” thereby causing formance in palm oil, copra and fish delays in procurement and contract- catch over the period” (cbsi 2018b). ing (Osifelo 2018). Prime Minister However, in the second quarter of Hou made a similar explanation and 2018, production activities declined by downplayed the situation by stress- 12 percent to 100 points from 4 per- ing that there was no health crisis cent growth in the first quarter of the (Hinge 2018; Fanasia 2018f). While year. This 12 percent decline was due the explanations from Dr Aumanu to weak performance in export com- and the prime minister seemed plau- modities such as logs, copra output, sible, the issue of acute drug shortages and fish catch volumes (cbsi 2018a). persisted. This is one aspect of a larger For the third quarter of 2018, the pro- structural issue that concerns the mis- duction index revealed that domestic management of the country’s health production activities further declined system (Fanasia 2018f). by 12 percent to 88 points from 100 Noncommunicable diseases (ncds) points in the second quarter of 2018. have been reported as an increasing This weakening of domestic produc- health problem in Solomon Islands. tion activities “reflected subdued They accounted for approximately 69 performance across all major sectors” percent of all deaths in the country in (cbsi 2018c). 2016 (who 2018). This was a 9 per- Both excessive government spend- cent increase compared to 2014, when ing and the decline in the performance such diseases accounted for 60 percent of domestic production activities have of total deaths (who 2014, 171). This led to the deterioration of services at trend indicates that Solomon Islands the national, provincial, and commu- needs to come up with effective health nity level. For example, in the health measures to address noncommuni- sector, there was a massive shortage of cable diseases in order to achieve the medical drugs at hospitals and various World Health Organization’s nine health centers throughout the country. global targets by 2025, one of which Since May, doctors at the National is for member states to reduce ncd- Referral Hospital in Honiara have related mortalities (who 2019). Prime called on patients to bring their own Minister Hou recognized the severity medications due to severe drug short- of noncommunicable diseases by high- ages at the facility (rnz 2018a). By lighting them as “a huge health cost to July, the drug shortage at the hospital the government that poses the single had reached a crisis point. Given the biggest threat to the future develop- situation, Solomon Islands Medical ment aspirations of our people and Association President and Opposition country” (Fanasia 2018b). He pointed Leader Manasseh Maelanga requested out that “ncds are killing more political reviews • melanesia 557 people in Solomon Islands today . . . Annual Meeting in October and the and still ncd has not been accorded Pacific Connect Dialogue in Novem- the attention and priority it deserves” ber. The increase in visitor arrivals in (Fanasia 2018b). Prime Minister Hou the third quarter of 2018 is a positive announced the sidccg’s “commit- indicator of improvement in the tour- ment at the international stage, in [his] ism sector. statement at the Third High Level According to the sidccg’s Policy Meeting on Prevention and Control of Priorities, Strategic Actions and Out- Non-Communicable Diseases during comes document (2017), the undersea the United Nations General Assembly fiber-optic cable project, referred to as in New York on 27 September 2018” the Coral Sea Cable System, was high (Fanasia 2018b). He declared during on the government’s priority action a High-Level Roundtable Meeting on list. The project involves a “4,700 km the ncd Policy Roadmap in Honiara submarine cable system linking Sydney that his “government has now taken to Port Moresby to Solomon Islands” up the battle to fight against Non (cscs 2018), and it will “deliver faster, Communicable Diseases” (Fanasia cheaper and more reliable internet to 2018c). PNG and Solomon Islands, resulting The Central Bank of Solomon in significant economic and develop- Islands’ September quarterly review ment opportunities” (cscs 2018). The revealed an increase in visitor arrivals, Solomon Islands government initially which rose “by 13% to 7,986 arriv- awarded a contract to the Chinese als from 7,087 arrivals in the previous company Huawei in late 2016 to con- quarter” (cbsi 2018c). This is partly struct the system, but it later cancelled because Solomon Islands hosted the that deal following concerns raised sixth Melanesian Arts and Cultural by the Australian government, which Festival in July. Held every four years, later offered to fund the project (St it is “one of the biggest international 2018). In July 2018, a memorandum cultural festivals” in Melanesia and of understanding was signed in Bris- attracts huge interest from tourists and bane by the prime ministers of Austra- Islanders across the region (ichcap lia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon 2018). The Melanesian Arts Festival Islands to allow for work on the proj- National Organising Committee, made ect to proceed (Fox 2018). Australia up of officers from various govern- has contracted the Vocus Group and ment ministries and sitting members Alcatel Submarine Networks to kick- from other institutions, was respon- start the project (fs 2018). The deal is sible for organizing the event (ichcap sealed, and the project is expected to 2018). Another event that contributed be completed by the end of 2019. to the increase in visitor arrivals was However, the landing of the cable the Oceania Football Confederation’s on Honiara’s shores is an issue requir- Under-16 Championship that was held ing government attention. In 2017, in Honiara in September. Apart from the Honiara foreshore was registered these two key events, there were also and a perpetual title issued, which regional and international meetings vested trusteeship in two individuals such as the Pacific Labour Mobility on behalf of their landowning tribe. 558 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
One of the trustees expressed that the instrument to protect persons who government should compensate land- report corruption from liability and owners for cable placement because victimization. These two landmark the foreshore is their property. The acts showed the sidccg’s commitment titling of the foreshore followed a land to address corruption. During the acquisition process provided for under International Anti- Corruption Day in Part V Division 1 of the Land and December, Prime Minister Hou stated Titles Act, which describes the process that he had signed the official gazette the national or provincial government on 7 December, making this the offi- can use to acquire customary land. cial commencement date for the two However, this act was not designed acts (Fanasia 2018d). Other legislation as a means for private individuals to passed by Parliament were the Elec- acquire title to customary land, and in toral Act 2018, the Electoral (Amend- July 2018 the commissioner of lands, ment) Act 2018, and the Constitution who played a key role in allowing (Amendment) (Electoral Reform) Act such use, was suspended because of 2018. These acts provided provisions “his decision to allow the foreshore for the amendment of the electoral of Honiara city to be registered by system of Solomon Islands. certain people defying a Cabinet deci- The Canada–Solomon Islands sion” (Comfort 2018). The govern- labor mobility partnerships contin- ment acknowledged that the titling ued to be strengthened in 2018. For of the Honiara foreshore was prob- example, in October, Prime Minister lematic, and it has taken the lead in Hou launched a new initiative with resolving the foreshore issue, with an Canadian International Training and expectation that a memorandum of Education Corp. This initiative will understanding will be signed between “further strengthen the labour mobil- concerned landowning tribes and the ity relations between Canada and government (see Solomon Islands Solomon Islands” (SS 2018c). It will Government 2018). offer Solomon Islanders the opportu- The Parliament of Solomon Islands nity to work in Canada’s hospitality passed a number of important laws in and tourism sector, and it will “also 2018. First were the Anti-Corruption introduce new efforts in empower- Act 2018 and the Whistle Blowers ing women in Solomon Islands” (SS Protection Act 2018. These two pieces 2018c). On the sidelines of the United of legislation were the subject of pub- Nations General Assembly in New lic discussion and political rhetoric for York that fall, the prime minister also several years before their enactment by launched the Skills Passport Solomon Parliament in 2018. The sidccg pur- Isles program, which “will allow Solo- sued their passing because they were mon Islands nationals under a special identified in its Policy Priorities, Stra- pilot project to apply for Permanent tegic Actions and Outcomes document Residence nomination for Canada as high priority (2017). The Anti-Cor- that will be supported under Canada’s ruption Act 2018 is a legal instrument Provincial Nomination program” (SS to combat corruption, and the Whistle 2018c). In December, Canada granted Blowers Protection Act 2018 is a legal visas to eleven Solomon Islanders for political reviews • melanesia 559
“Dairy Industry, Food Service, Packag- 2015” (rnz 2018d). In December, ing and Nursery jobs” (SS 2018a). The Prime Minister Hou expressed that new initiative provides a pathway for the sidccg is neutral because it “has Solomon Islanders to live and work in no policy statement in dealing with a range of sectors in Canada. While the issue of West Papua” (McDonald this is commendable, the government 2018). The West Papua issue seems should take proactive and appropri- twisted because while Sogavare ate steps to create employment within and Hou have different views, both Solomon Islands. governments allowed Bintang Borneo, Solomon Islands’ position on West an Indonesia company and subsidiary Papua’s human-rights and self-deter- of Asia Pacific Investment and Devel- mination issues took a turn in 2018. opment Limited, to extract bauxite In May, a government delegation led from Rennell Island at 0 percent by John Usuramo, the chief of staff export duty (see Rini 2016). in the prime minister’s office, visited Turning to law and order, the Royal West Papua. The delegation included Solomon Islands Police Force (rsipf) Development Service Exchange (dse) and the Australian Federal Police Chairperson Inia Barry and other civil signed a memorandum of understand- society activists. This sparked criti- ing in Honiara early in 2018 (pmu cism from the public in both print and 2018). The memorandum provided social media because some members of a framework for close cooperation the government delegation appeared and a strong working relationship to have compromised the position of between the two in areas such as law the Development Service Exchange enforcement, operations across all and other civil society groups on the transnational crime types, and capac- West Papua issue. However, dse Gen- ity building and professional develop- eral Secretary Jennifer Wate explained ment. It outlines priority criminal that those who joined the government issues to include, such as “illicit drugs; delegation participated as individuals trafficking (in all forms) of persons; rather than as representatives of their transnational sex offences; corruption respective organizations (SS 2018b). and foreign bribery” (pmu 2018). A The trip to West Papua was an early case to illustrate the usefulness of this indication that the sidccg govern- cooperation between police forces ment under Prime Minister Hou was was the seizure of a “massive ship of moving away from the Sogavare-led cocaine, the largest in the country’s government’s position. Sogavare, now history, onboard a yacht anchored off deputy prime minister and minister of the capital Honiara,” which “marked finance following his removal as prime the end of a long-running investigation minister in November 2017, strongly in Australia and Solomon Islands . . . “campaigned internationally about [involving] the rsipf, the Australian West Papuan human rights issues. Federal Police, Australian Criminal He was also supportive of the United Intelligence Commission, New South Liberation Movement for West Papua, Wales Police Force and Australian and instrumental in its admission to Border Force” (rnz 2018b). the Melanesian Spearhead Group in When delivering the government’s 560 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) fiscal plan for 2019, Minister of ———. 2018b. Quarterly Review March Finance Sogavare highlighted that 2018. http://www.cbsi.com.sb/wp-content/ the government “is going back to the uploads/2018/06/QR-MAR2018.pdf basics for the last budget of its tenure” [accessed 5 Feb 2019] (rnz 2018f). The budget’s theme is ———. 2018c. Quarterly Review Septem- “resourcing the basic fundamentals,” ber 2018. http://www.cbsi.com.sb/wp and it builds on the guiding prin- -content/uploads/2018/12/QR-SEPT2018 ciples from 2018: maintaining fiscal .pdf [accessed 5 Feb 2019] stability and macro-fiscal discipline Comfort, Maeni. 2018. Naopu Accused (see Solomon Islands Government of Giving Away Honiara’s Foreshore. 2018). The scaling down of the Solomon Star, 9 July. https://www 2019 budget appears to have been .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ shaped by experiences such as the national/item/20675-naopu-accused-of critical drug shortages at hospitals -giving-away-honiara-s-foreshore and health centers across the country [accessed 15 Feb 2019] (rnz 2018c). During the Sine Dine cscs, Coral Sea Cable System. Motion before dissolution of Parlia- 2018. About the Project. https://www ment, Prime Minister Hou highlighted .coralseacablesystem.com.au/about/ that the tenth “Parliament has been [accessed 15 Feb 2019] very productive with the passing Fanasia, Andrew. 2018a. apec Trip Costs of 42 Bills” (SS 2018d). In his final $2.7m. Solomon Star, 29 November. remarks, the Speaker pointed out that http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index the total number of sitting days in the .php/news/national/item/21143-apec-trip tenth Parliament was 189. However, -costs-2-7m [accessed 10 Jan 2019] a lack of quorum affected the sitting ———. 2018b. ncds, a Big Threat, Says schedules (SS 2018d). Parliament was pm. Solomon Star, 27 November. http:// dissolved on 17 December, and the www.solomonstarnews.com/index.php/ sidccg will remain in caretaker mode news/national/item/21132-ncds-a-big until a new government is formed -threat-says-pm [accessed 10 Jan 2019] after the national general election ———. 2018c. pm Declares War on ncds. on 3 April 2019. As 2018 came to a Solomon Star, 27 November. http://www close, it was apparent that the sidccg .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ managed to deliver on some of its national/item/21129-pm-declares-war-on promises while it was simultaneously -ncds [accessed 10 Jan 2019] confronted with issues and challenges. ———. 2018d. pm Reaffirms War on joseph daniel foukona Corruption. Solomon Star, 11 December. http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index .php/news/national/item/21163-pm -reaffirms-war-on-corruption [accessed References 10 Jan 2019] cbsi, Central Bank of Solomon Islands. ———. 2018e Shame of Cabinet, Caucus. 2018a. Quarterly Review June 2018. Solomon Star, 29 November. http://www http://www.cbsi.com.sb/wp-content/ .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ uploads/2018/09/QR-JUNE2018.pdf national/item/21138-shame-of-cabinet [accessed 5 Feb 2019] -caucus [accessed 10 Jan 2019] political reviews • melanesia 561
———. 2018f. Wale Wants Health Minis- Dr. Aumanu. Solomon Islands Broadcast- ter Removed. Solomon Star, 29 November. ing Corporation, 22 May. http://www http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index .sibconline.com.sb/drug-shortage-nothing .php/news/national/item/21142-wale -to-do-with-government-budget-dr -wants-health-minister-removed [accessed -aumanu/ [accessed 10 Jan 2019] 10 Jan 2019] pmu, Police Media Unit. 2018. rsipf, afp Fox, Liam. 2018. Australia, Solomon Sign Deal for Much Closer Cooperation. Islands, PNG Sign Undersea Cable Deal Solomon Star, 25 April. http://www Amid Criticism from China. abc News, .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ 12 July. https://www.abc.net.au/news/ national/item/20372-rsipf-afp-sign-deal 2018-07-12/australia-solomon-islands -for-much-closer-cooperation [accessed -png-sign-undersea-cable-deal/9983102 10 Jan 2019] [accessed 10 Jan 2019] Ragaruma, Milton. 2018. The 2018 Gov- fs, Fibre Systems. 2018. New Submarine ernment Budget Concerns. Island Sun, Cable to Boost Connectivity in Papua New 13 April. http://theislandsun.com.sb/the Guinea and Soloman [sic] Islands. 5 July. -2018-government-budget-concerns/ https://www.fibre-systems.com/news/new [accessed 10 Jan 2019] -submarine-cable-boost-connectivity Rini, Snyder. 2016. Customs and Excise -papua-new-guinea-and-soloman-islands Act (Cap 121): Customs and Excise [accessed 10 Jan 2019] (Export Duty Rate for Bauxite) (Amend- Hinge, Premilla. 2018. Solomon Islands ment) Order 2016. http://www.paclii.org/ pm Insist [sic] No Crisis in Health. sb/legis/sub_leg/caeacaedrfbo2016l742 Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television 016845/ [accessed 20 Feb 2019] Corporation, 17 July. https://www.vbtc rnz, Radio New Zealand. 2017. Rick Hou .vu/en/latest-news/1113-solomon-islands Elected Solomons pm. 15 November. -pm-insist-no-crisis-in-health [accessed https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ 10 Jan 2019] programmes/datelinepacific/audio/ ichcap, International Information and 2018621751/rick-hou-elected-solomons Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural -pm [accessed 15 Dec 2018] Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region. 2018. ———. 2018a. Drug Shortage at Solomon 2018 macfest, Melanesian Arts and Islands Hospital. 22 May. https://www Cultural Festival. 15 June. https://www .radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/ .ichcap.org/2018-macfest-melanesian-arts 357941/drug-shortage-at-solomon-islands -cultural-festival/ [accessed 5 Feb 2019] -hospital [accessed 15 Dec 2018] Laungi, Aatai John. 2018. $3.7 Billion ———. 2018b. Hundreds of Kilos of Dollar Budget Passed! Solomon Star, Cocaine Seized on a Yacht in Solomon 10 April. http://www.solomonstarnews Islands. 28 September. https://www .com/index.php/news/national/item/20324 .radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/ -3-7-billion-budget [accessed 10 Jan 2019] 367516/hundreds-of-kilos-of-cocaine McDonald, Ian. 2018. sidccg is Neutral, -seized-on-a-yacht-in-solomon-islands Says Hou. Solomon Star, 3 December. [accessed 15 Dec 2018] http://www.solomonstarnews.com/index ———. 2018c. Medicine Shortages .php/news/national/item/21147-no-west Cripple Hospitals in Solomon Islands, -papua-policy [accessed 14 May 2019] PNG. 23 July. https://www.radionz.co.nz/ Osifelo, Fred. 2018. Drug Shortage international/programmes/datelinepacific/ Nothing to Do with Government Budget: audio/2018654534/medicine-shortages 562 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
-cripple-hospitals-in-solomon-islands-png Overview (iso). 5 February. https://www [accessed 15 Dec 2018] .humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www .humanitarianresponse.info/files/ ———. 2018d. Shift in Solomon Islands documents/files/initial_situation_overview Government’s View on Papua. 23 May. _-_td_-_05_feb_2018_v2_0.pdf [accessed https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/ 10 Jan 2019] pacific-news/358029/shift-in-solomon -islands-government-s-view-on-papua Solomon Islands Government. 2009. [accessed 15 Dec 2018] National Disaster Risk Management Plan ———. 2018e. Solomon Islands Has Spent 2009. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/ the Last 40 Years in the Wilderness - Rick 22085_14656ndrmpsolomonsfinalised Hou. 2 August. https://www.radionz.co.nz/ draftff2.pdf [accessed 14 May 2019] international/pacific-news/363214/ ———. 2018. 2019 Budget Strategy and solomon-islands-has-spent-the-last-40 Operational Rules. http://www.mof.gov.sb/ -years-in-the-wilderness-rick-hou Libraries/Homepage_quick_links/The [accessed 15 Dec 2018] _2019_Budget_Strategy_Final.sflb.ashx ———. 2018f. Solomons Govt Going [accessed 10 Jan 2019] Back to the Basics for 2019 Budget. SS, Solomon Star. 2018a. 11 Visas in 20 November. https://www.radionz.co December. 17 December. http://www .nz/international/pacific-news/376339/ .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ solomons-govt-going-back-to-the-basics national/item/21178-11-visas-in-december -for-2019-budget [accessed 15 Dec 2018] [accessed 2 Oct 2019] sibc, Solomon Islands Broadcasting ———. 2018b. dse: We Are Not Part Corporation. 2018. Opposition Urges of West Papua Trip. 2 May. http://www Government to Declare “a State of Medi- .solomonstarnews.com/index.php/news/ cal Emergency.” 15 July. https://www national/item/20389-dse-we-are-not-part .sibconline.com.sb/opposition-urges -of-west-papua-trip [accessed 10 Feb 2019] -government-to-declare-a-state-of-medical -emergency/ [accessed 10 Jan 2019] ———. 2018c. New Labour Deal with citrec. 4 October. http://www.solomon sidccg, Solomon Islands Democratic starnews.com/index.php/news/business/ Coalition for Change Government. 2017. item/20964-new-labour-deal-with-citrec Policy Priorities, Strategic Actions and [accessed 10 Feb 2019] Outcomes. Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. http://www.parliament.gov ———. 2018d. Parliament Dissolves. 17 .sb/files/library%20and%20information/ December. http://www.solomonstarnews government%20documents/2018/SIDCCG .com/index.php/news/national/item/21174 %20Policy%20Translation%20Strategy -parliament-dissolves [accessed 10 Feb .pdf [accessed 15 Dec 2018] 2019] sindmo, Solomon Islands National St, Straits Times. 2018. Huawei Loses Disaster Management Office. 2018a. Solomons Cable Deal to Australia. Dashboard: Initial Damage Assessment 14 June. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/ East Honiara Flooding. 5 March. https:// australianz/huawei-loses-solomons-cable www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/ -deal-to-australia [accessed 25 Jan 2019] www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/ Sto, Solomon Times Online. 2018. Short- documents/files/ida_dash_flooding_05_ age of Medical Supplies Reaches Crisis mar_18_v2.pdf [accessed 10 Jan 2019] Point. 17 July. http://www.solomontimes ———. 2018b. Initial Situation .com/news/shortage-of-medical-supplies political reviews • melanesia 563
-reaches-crisis-point/8780 [accessed The year also saw a historic agreement 10 Jan 2019] between Timor-Leste and Australia who, World Health Organization. 2014. that fixed maritime boundaries at the Noncommunicable Diseases Country median line in the Timor Sea (Leach Profiles 2014. https://apps.who.int/iris/ 2018), ending a long-running dispute bitstream/handle/10665/128038/ between the two nations. The year 9789241507509_eng.pdf?sequence=1 was capped off by the government [accessed 25 Jan 2019] outlining its bold vision for resource ———. 2018. Noncommunicable Diseases sovereignty, and its plan to purchase a Country Profiles 2016: Solomon Islands. majority share in the Greater Sunrise https://www.who.int/nmh/countries/2018/ joint venture, to advance its ambitious slb_en.pdf?ua=1 [accessed 25 Jan 2019] goal of downstream processing oil and ———. 2019. ncd Global Monitoring gas on the East Timorese south coast. Framework. Available from https://www The July 2017 election saw the .who.int/nmh/global_monitoring opposition fretilin party emerge _framework/en/ [accessed 13 May 2019]. narrowly ahead of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (cnrt) in terms of seats but unable to establish the alliances necessary Timor-Leste to form a majority. With no alterna- From 25 January, when the president tive majority coalition then being announced an early election for 12 proposed, in September President May, it was clear that 2018 would Guterres appointed the first minor- prove an eventful political year in ity government in Timor-Leste’s short Timor-Leste. The May election fol- constitutional history: a thirty-seat lowed a nine-month fretilin-led minority coalition with the Demo- minority government, which proved cratic Party. But events moved rapidly, unable to steer its program and budget and a political standoff emerged in through Parliament because the oppo- October when three opposition par- sition parties formed a majority bloc ties—the cnrt, the Popular Liberation a month after the government was Party (plp), and Enrich the National installed (fretilin is the acronym for Unity of the Sons of Timor (khunto), one of Timor-Leste’s major political together controlling thirty-five of parties, the Revolutionary Front for an Parliament’s sixty-five seats—rejected Independent East Timor). The elec- the government’s program. tion brought the Xanana Gusmão–led Having failed to pass a budget recti- Alliance for Change and Progress fication measure needed to fund new (amp) coalition back into office. programs, the state reverted to a duo- Having returned to power, the new decimal system based on a monthly government soon found itself mired allocation of one-twelfth of the previ- in a standoff over ministerial appoint- ous year’s budget. The extended use of ments with the president, fretilin’s this reserve budget system lasted until Francisco Guterres, in the first genu- a new budget was passed in September ine experience of cohabitation under 2018, and it depressed the national Timor-Leste’s semi-presidential system. economy, which remains heavily reli- 564 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) ant on government-led expenditures. the revenue 90 to 10 in its favor. As Rather than installing the opposi- these fields are nearing the end of their tion amp coalition as the government, life, far more financially significant President Guterres instead announced is the renegotiated revenue split over a new election, with the fretilin– the as-yet-untapped Greater Sunrise Democratic Party executive acting field, worth in excess of us$40 billion, as a caretaker government in the which straddles the eastern lateral (or meantime. side) boundary of the Joint Petroleum Meanwhile, in the realm of inter- Development Area. national relations, maritime boundary The renegotiated agreement saw a negotiations with Australia continued substantial increase in Timor-Leste’s under the aegis of a United Nations share of the future Greater Sunrise Convention on the Law of the Sea revenues, from 50 percent to 70 or 80 (unclos) compulsory conciliation percent, pending resolution of the final process, which was triggered by contested issue of where the pipeline Timor-Leste. Following twelve months for downstream processing will land— of negotiations that saw “confidence- in Australia or Timor-Leste. The building measures” enacted—includ- higher revenue figure would operate ing the termination of the Certain in the event that Timor-Leste does not Maritime Arrangements in the Timor achieve its goal of sending the pipeline Sea treaty, which purported to delay to the southern coast of Timor. maritime boundary determination for Despite these successes, which fifty years, and Timor-Leste’s cessation vindicated the East Timorese use of of a separate espionage case against the unclos conciliation process, chief Australia—Timor-Leste and Australia negotiator Gusmão remained unhappy jointly declared that they had reached at the failure to secure a pipeline to the an agreement on “central aspects” of East Timorese coast, a development a maritime-boundary determination in vision he had championed for years. late 2017 (Permanent Court of Arbi- Advancing the plan for downstream tration 2017). processing remained a key focus of the Once ratified by both parties, the government throughout 2018. Despite agreement, which was finally revealed this aspect of the issue remaining unre- on 6 March 2018 (Permanent Court of solved, the historic treaty marked the Arbitration 2018), will create perma- end of a key stumbling block in the nent maritime boundaries and revised Australia–Timor-Leste relationship, resource-sharing arrangements in the opening the way for a major resetting yet-to-be-developed Greater Sunrise of the countries’ troubled bilateral ties, oil and gas field. Timor-Leste secured and ministerial visits soon resumed— a median-line boundary in the Timor the first in five years. Gap, creating a permanent maritime Unlike the 2017 elections, par- boundary for the first time. The liamentary elections in May 2018 median-line boundary will place 100 delivered a decisive result. The amp, percent of the existing Joint Petroleum by now a coalition of cnrt, plp, and Development Area in Timor-Leste’s khunto, won 49.6 percent of the waters, where current treaties divided national vote, delivering thirty-four political reviews • melanesia 565 out of sixty-five seats and winning a tance, Falintil. The 2018 campaign narrow majority in its own right. In was frequently depicted as a contest Timor-Leste’s proportional system, between the military front and mem- where outright majorities are uncom- bers of the diplomatic front, who were mon, this was a strong vindication of outside the country during the occupa- the decision to combine the forces of tion, including Prime Minister Mari Gusmão’s cnrt with former Presi- Alkatiri and key diplomatic figure Jose dent Taur Matan Ruak’s plp and the Ramos-Horta, who had also thrown smaller, youth-focused khunto in a his weight behind the fretilin cam- formal preelection coalition. paign. A series of campaign attacks While the amp achieved a swing sought to diminish the contribution of of 3.1 percent on its collective 2017 those who struggled for independence results, the entry of a new, smaller in the international arena, emphasiz- coalition (the Democratic Develop- ing the greater suffering endured by ment Forum) saw the amp’s collective those within the territory during the tally of seats fall by one. fretilin occupation. received 34.2 percent of the national This division over resistance history vote and 23 seats, maintaining its lent an unpleasant air to a campaign 2017 seat tally. This represented a that was also marked by exchanges of substantial swing of 4.5 percent, the personal slurs between the major party first major swing to the party since leaders, including some outbursts of 2007, though it proved insufficient to anti-Muslim sentiment directed at overcome the formidable amp coali- fretilin leader Alkatiri, and frac- tion. The Democratic Party was also tious personal debates on Facebook. back in Parliament with 5 seats (down Civil society called for a new focus on from 7 in 2017), and the new Demo- policies rather than personalities and cratic Development Forum coalition for parties to refrain from personal secured 3: though this smaller alliance attacks (Fundasaun Mahein 2018). soon split, with one of its members of Election Day passed without major Parliament clearly more favorable to incident, though comments from the fretilin opposition. This left the Gusmão that he “would not accept the government with a simple majority in result if it was not fair” were unhelp- its own right—but without the two- ful and built on a series of complaints thirds supermajority necessary for the from the amp during the campaign reversal of certain presidential vetoes. that were not backed by strong evi- The 2018 campaign was marked by dence. In its preliminary report, the a high level of polarization and by the largest observer mission referred to resurgence of the “history wars,” an the “injudicious and inappropriate ongoing clash between the two wings language of some political representa- of the East Timorese resistance during tives” and noted that allegations about the Indonesian occupation. The amp the election process are “serious in reunited Gusmão and his cnrt with character and, if made, need to be sup- Ruak’s plp, which had been at logger- ported by evidence” (atleom 2018). heads during the 2017 election. Both After the ballot, fretilin raised simi- were former leaders of the armed resis- lar concerns over the vote in Oecusse, 566 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) the only district in which its vote had ministerial nominees were dominated dropped in 2018, again without imme- by cnrt figures, while 2 were from diately offering compelling evidence. khunto. This district-level outcome was par- Though Gusmão was not among ticularly interesting because fretilin the refused nominees, the cnrt leader had been in charge of the Special boycotted the swearing-in ceremony Zones of Social Market Economy in protest, accusing the president of project, a major national development “unprecedented, unusual, seditious project in the East Timorese enclave and politicized” behavior by not of Oecusse. Despite these complaints, swearing in the full suite of govern- Timor-Leste’s two electoral agencies ment members (Lusa 2018). Another again did an excellent job, even with ministerial nominee boycotted the the pressure of the early election cam- ceremony, but not all cnrt ministers paign and limited budgets. did. President Guterres stated that he Despite leading a smaller party, had asked the prime minister to review Ruak was appointed prime minister the names in light of the evidence pro- in June, with the cnrt leader Gusmão vided, arguing that such nominations proposed as minister of state advising might undermine public faith in the the prime minister. The decisive result government. Gusmão responded by of the May elections and the amp’s releasing a statement signed by a judge clear majority looked set to provide that nine of the impugned nominees for stability and a much-needed had no current charges pending and budget. that he agreed to replace the two nom- However, the first experience of inees facing current court processes. genuine cohabitation in Timor-Leste’s This was a reasonable step, which dis- semi-presidential system between tinguished between actual and poten- a fretilin president and an amp tial charges, but it had the unfortunate government disrupted these early political side effect of adding detail projections, revealing the extent of to the nature of accusations against presidential power in Timor-Leste’s the would-be ministers, though some system and causing problems for the involved matters unrelated to corrup- governing coalition. tion. President Guterres also justified Tensions first came to a head in his position as one that protects the June when President Guterres refused judicial system by preventing ministe- the appointment of 12 of the 41 rial immunity for impugned nominees. proposed ministers in the new gov- The government countered that the ernment, citing judicial inquiries into presumption of innocence and the misconduct or “poor moral standing,” separation of powers were being put including two current court processes at risk. Soon after, Parliament denied (Belo 2018). The issue with the sole the president permission to travel on nominee associated with the plp was a scheduled state visit to Portugal. a strictly bureaucratic matter involv- While it was argued that business of ing resignation from the military and state made the trip untimely, the denial was soon resolved, reducing the list was another clear sign of cohabita- to 11. The remainder of the refused tion tensions. Seizing on the politics of political reviews • melanesia 567 the moment, fretilin reintroduced a ment had important wins. Its budget 2014 anti-corruption bill into Parlia- for the remainder of 2018 passed ment on 10 July. through Parliament in early Septem- The cnrt then threatened action ber, ending the recurrent monthly against the president if he did not reserve budget system (based on the install the ministers within ten days, previous year’s budget), which had but with Timor-Leste’s equivalent of contributed to a flattening of the impeachment also requiring a two- economy. The Court of Appeal also thirds vote in Parliament, it remained found the government’s withdrawal unclear how this would be done. No from the petroleum fund—which such action was ultimately taken. In kicked off this process—to be consti- a further development, the president tutional. The amp’s return to the new refused to immediately pass emergency school curriculum, which prioritizes budget measures that would draw Tetun literacy in the early school years us$140 million from the petroleum and introduces Portuguese language fund to top up state coffers for July later, was also broadly welcomed after and August, referring the measure to the move had been briefly reversed the Court of Appeal to test its consti- by the fretilin government. This tutionality. The government argued approach accords more strongly with that this measure was necessary to the educational evidence, which sug- address the slowdown in economy as gests that this staging is more likely a result of emergency budget mea- to produce improved fluency in both sures in place since early 2017, and official languages. the court ultimately approved the The government also faced renewed withdrawal. student protests over Parliament By the end of the year, the institu- members’ new Prado cars in late 2018, tional standoff, primarily involving with such vehicles being a common cnrt members, was in its sixth focus of grassroots concern over waste month. Some former ministers were and inequality. Associated protests instead working as senior advisers, by the University Students Movement and Parliament had responded to the were met with heavy-handed policing president’s action by repeatedly deny- from a force that was already under ing his travel requests. The standoff scrutiny after an off-duty policeman gave the new government a curiously killed three and wounded others at a dual character. On the one hand, its party (Davidson 2018). The incident normal business was being carried highlighted the lax enforcement of out by an incomplete ministry over- rules prohibiting off-duty gun posses- represented by figures from the minor sion, which must be addressed. alliance parties, plp and khunto. On Above all, 2018 saw the amp gov- the other, a powerful group of cnrt ernment focus its energies on advanc- figures without formal portfolios, led ing Gusmão’s ambitious plan to bring by Gusmão, was primarily concerned oil and gas from the Greater Sunrise with advancing the Greater Sunrise field to Timor for downstream pro- project. cessing. The government believes this Despite this standoff, the govern- will maximize the economic and social 568 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) returns from the project above and that move in December, though beyond the country’s increased share Guterres’s justification focused pri- of Greater Sunrise revenues, which has marily on the financial sustainability risen from 50 percent to at least 70 of the nation’s petroleum fund, and percent since the deal was struck with he also objected to some retrospec- Australia. Planned major infrastruc- tive measures in the legislation. Some ture projects along the south coast to local nongovernmental organizations advance this vision, collectively known believe that the 20 percent limit was as Tasi Mane, are still at an early unenforceable anyway and that the stage. recent changes to the law were instead As such, despite the commitment of aimed at reducing the capacity of the plp to greater spending on educa- Timor-Leste’s Audit Court to review tion and health, the 2018 budget was large contracts—an accusation the still largely focused on infrastructure government denies (La‘o Hamutuk spending. This emphasis on resource 2018b). The Audit Court has certainly processing was also reflected in the proved the most active and able of government’s initially proposed the East Timorese watchdogs, previ- us$2.1 billion budget for 2019, passed ously overturning a contested us$720 by Parliament in December. More million contract for constructing the than a third of the 2019 budget was supply base in Suai. devoted to Tasi Mane infrastructure Parliament successfully reversed the works and joint-venture acquisition veto on 10 January 2019, as fretilin costs. Key items included the proposed staged a parliamentary walkout, purchase of Conoco Philips’s stake allowing the government a rare in the Greater Sunrise joint venture opportunity to assemble two-thirds of for us$350 million, along with the those present (and rendering moot the buyout of Shell Australia’s share for question of whether a supermajority us$300 million. If these purchases are was in fact needed for this legislation). ultimately approved, Timor-Leste will Opposition members of Parliament have a 56 percent stake in the joint later referred the reaffirmed Law on venture. The plan is controversial in Petroleum Activities legislation to the sectors of East Timorese civil society, Court of Appeal to test its constitu- with some organizations worried that tionality. the costs will outweigh the benefits In the meantime, President Guterres (La‘o Hamutuk 2018b). But the vetoed the 2019 budget on 23 government predicts greatly increased January, arguing that it was gravely returns and appears to be having some unsustainable and drew too heavily success in stirring nationalist support on the principal reserves of Timor- for its vision of increased resource Leste’s sovereign wealth fund. This sovereignty. action potentially placed the Greater As a preliminary step, the govern- Sunrise joint-venture payments in ment made changes to the Law on jeopardy, as fretilin could deny the Petroleum Activities to lift the legis- government the parliamentary super- lated 20 percent limit on state owner- majority needed to reverse the budget ship. A presidential veto challenged veto. This potential for a presidential political reviews • melanesia 569 block to a major government agenda 80 percent of which would be sourced therefore left a central tension brew- from joint-venture partners, loans, or ing in the political system. However, other financing. Claimed returns from this tension was soon resolved, at least the project under government model- for the short term, when Parliament ing are in the order of us$28 billion to revised the budget down to us$1.4 us$54 billion above the return from billion on 31 January by removing the a simple revenue split, depending on us$650 million joint-venture payment. capital and operational expenditures The government did this because it and oil and gas prices. East Timorese had become confident that it could use nongovernmental organizations coun- the petroleum fund itself as the source tered that the government’s investment of the payment, having altered the could instead cost up to us$14 billion fund’s investment rules in the recent and that price assumptions and exter- Law on Petroleum Activities amend- nal financing are uncertain. They also ments. Despite an appeal from opposi- worried that the project would rapidly tion ministers of Parliament, the Court deplete the petroleum fund, the inter- of Appeal found these changes to be est from which is intended to subsidize constitutional, and the us$650 million the annual budget into the future. was paid to Conoco Philips and Shell Where the majority funds for the on 16 April (La‘o Hamutuk 2019). massive Tasi Mane project would More generally, the politics of come from is now an even more this issue appeared to be traveling critical question. As nongovernmen- in the government’s favor, with all tal organizations have pointed out, parties offering in-principle back- becoming a joint-venture partner ing for a pipeline to Timor-Leste. would expose Timor-Leste to an fretilin maintained that it supports equivalent share of the massive capital the downstream processing vision but development costs. The government opposes alterations to petroleum-fund countered that the joint-venture governance and wants the cost-benefit partnership would also bring new analysis to be made public. Some income streams beyond the revenue nongovernmental organizations have split negotiated between the coun- strongly questioned the wisdom of tries, including extra tax revenue and the megaproject and fear that the returns on capital expenditure. These sovereign wealth fund of us$17 billion formed the basis of the government’s could be depleted even sooner than revenue projections. projected. The balance, they have While fretilin leader Alkatiri pointed out, dropped a record us$680 and President Guterres were notable million in October (La‘o Hamutuk absences from the presentation in 2019). December, the plan drew support from A presentation by Gusmão in Ramos-Horta (though he expressed December outlined the broad strokes concern over amending the Law on of the government’s financing plan for Petroleum Activities). He also tactfully the Tasi Mane project. He revealed urged talks among the government, government modeling that estimated the president, and the opposition. costs in the order of us$10.5 billion, While the president appeared to get 570 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019) the best of the furor over ministerial their own development strategies and appointments, the government was recruit donor support on that basis having more success in framing the (g7 2018). oil and gas issue as one of national Beyond its bold forecast of greatly pride and resource sovereignty, which increased returns, the government’s complicated the terrain for critics of vision of resource sovereignty is also the Tasi Mane megaproject. a potent potential nationalist motif While the revised 2019 budget was to mobilize political support, includ- promulgated by the president on 7 ing for future election campaigns. February 2019, he remained openly Likewise, it may see longer-term critical of the relatively low expen- political benefits in providing jobs ditures on basic development indica- and training in Tasi Mane, even if tors. Here, the government had some projected returns from resources vulnerability, as the proposed 2019 projects are lower than anticipated. In budget outlined a modest increase of contrast to the civil-society focus on us$11 million in education spending, bottom-line costs to the economy and with health and agriculture spend- the petroleum fund, the calculus may ing remaining essentially static (La‘o not be a simple economic one for the Hamutuk 2018a), despite being government. declared budget priorities by the For Timor-Leste’s neighbors, the government. This suggests that the larger question concerned the likely plp has had relatively little success partners to fund the majority of the pushing its policy agenda within the project. The prospect of China’s coalition, despite holding the prime involvement has obviously raised great ministership. On the other hand, busi- concerns in Canberra. While there is ness groups remain deeply concerned no hard evidence of Chinese interest, about the economic impact of a return the question of how the government to the recurrent budget system, as will finance the remaining 80 per- the economy remains dependent on cent remains unclear. Notably, the government expenditures of oil and contract for a new digital television gas revenues (Lusa 2019). This factor network went to a Chinese company clearly placed additional pressure on in December (Telecom Paper 2018). the president to pass the budget. As 2018 drew to a close, political The wider politics of the East tensions were rising again in Dili. The Timorese government’s resource ongoing clash between a determined sovereignty vision are significant. government agenda and presidential The plan rejects the presumption veto powers suggested that a new that downstream processing is the election in 2019 cannot be ruled out. natural preserve of more developed For the government, the prospect of countries—a powerful argument winning one more seat and removing capable of recruiting strong nationalist fretilin’s block on a parliamentary support. Gusmão already has a strong supermajority, weakening President track record in promoting interna- Guterres’s veto power, may prove tional organizations like the g7 appealing if the political standoffs call for developing countries to lead continue to affect the government. political reviews • melanesia 571
However, given the uncertainty that ber. http://gmntv.tl/en/politika/2018/12/ any new election would resolve the eis-pr-ramos-horta-rai-ida-nee-labele institutional standoff, a compromise -moris-ho-veta/ over ministerial appointments and La‘o Hamutuk. 2018a. Submission to dialogue between the parties might Committee C, rdtl National Parliament prove the real solution, something from La‘o Hamtuk about the Proposed former President Ramos-Horta, who General State Budget for 2019. 29 Novem- openly supported fretilin and the ber. http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/ Democratic Party in 2018, was calling OGE19/LHSubPNOJE2019-29Nov18en for as the year ended (gmn tv 2018). .pdf michael leach ———. 2018b. Timor-Leste Buys into the Sunrise Oil and Gas Project. 30 October. https://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/Sunrise/ References 18SunriseBuyout.htm ———. 2019. Timor-Leste Petroleum All websites accessed 18 April 2019. Fund/Fundu Petroliferu. Updated 28 Feb- atleom, Australia Timor-Leste Election ruary. http://www.laohamutuk.org/ Observer Mission. 2018. Australia Timor- Oil/PetFund/05PFIndex.htm#2018 Leste Election Observer Mission 2018 Report. 17 May. https://blogs.deakin.edu Leach, Michael. 2018. Timor-Leste: .au/deakin-speaking/2018/05/17/australia Architect of Its Own Sunrise. Inside Story, -timor-leste-election-observer-mission 8 March. https://insidestory.org.au/timor -2018-report/ -leste-architect-of-its-own-sunrise/ Belo, Jose. 2018. New Timor-Leste Govt Lusa. 2018. Xanana Gusmão Criticizes Beset with Problems as Gusmao Walks East Timor President for Government Away. La Croix International, 27 July. Appointment Criteria. Plataformamedia, https://international.la-croix.com/news/ 23 June. https://www.plataformamedia new-timor-leste-govt-beset-with-problems .com/en-uk/news/politics/interior/xanana -as-gusmao-walks-away/8158 -gusmao-criticizes-east-timor-president -for-government-appointment-criteria Davidson, Helen. 2018. Timor Leste: -9497191.html Drunk Police Officer’s Alleged Killing of Three Teenagers Sparks Protests. ———. 2019. East Timor: Foreign Busi- Guardian, 20 November. https://www nessmen Fear Economic Worsening in .theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/20/ Timor-Leste. Macau News Agency, timor-leste-drunk-police-officers-alleged 15 January. http://www.macaubusiness -killing-of-three-teenagers-sparks-protests .com/east-timor-foreign-businessmen-fear -economic-worsening-in-timor-leste/ Fundasaun Mahein. 2018. Policies over Personalities. 5 April. http://www Permanent Court of Arbitration. 2017. .fundasaunmahein.org/2018/04/05/ Timor-Leste and Australia Achieve policies-over-personalities/ Breakthrough in Maritime Boundary Conciliation Proceedings. Press release, g7 2018. Our Mission. http://g7plus 1 September. https://pcacases.com/web/ .org/our-mission/ sendAttach/2230 gmn tv. 2018. Eis pr Ramos-Horta: Rai ———. 2018. Timor-Leste and Australia ida ne’e labele moris ho veta. 19 Decem- Sign new Maritime Boundaries Treaty. 572 the contemporary pacific • 31:2 (2019)
Press release, 6 March. https://pcacases China. 7 December. https://www .com/web/sendAttach/2303 .telecompaper.com/news/timorese -government-greenlights-dtt-contract Telecom Paper. 2018. Timorese Govern- -with-china--1272406 ment Greenlights dtt Contract with