Political Reviews

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.

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