Bougainville Referendum Commission

Potential deferral of B’ville referendum

The National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) have initially agreed to set a target date for June 15th, 2019.

However, the processes that will lead up to it are yet to be established by both the National Government and the ABG.

Chairman of the Bougainville Referendum Commission, Bertie Ahern, said there has to be a certainty of funding to fund the referendum and the Constitutional Regulations must be in place before progress is made.

BRC Commissioners in place

The Commission is composed of seven members:

Over K2m to back referendum commission

The first $500,000 (K1.2m) has already been made available through the United Nation Development Programme’s Bougainville Referendum Support Project.

The funding is intended to support the Commission to assist in the conduct of a credible referendum, as is the wish of both the Papua New Guinea and Autonomous Bougainville governments. It is part of the K120 million per year provided by Australia to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville through the Papua New Guinea Australia Partnership.

EU applauds Ahern on BRC stint

Ahern was invited to Chair the BRC by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Dr John Momis. 

In a statement, the EU said: “He visited Papua New Guinea and Bougainville in October, when he met with senior officials and international partners including the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, Korea, and Fiji and chaired a meeting of the Referendum Commission’s full membership on 15 October.

Bougainville voter roll preps begin

The Bougainville Referendum Commission has partnered with the ABG’s Department of Community Government to ensure all eligible Bougainvilleans get registered.

Bougainville Electoral Commissioner George Manu said the referendum voter roll will be developed through a three-phased process; the first involves verification of the 20-15 ABG electoral rolls against ward voter registries.

Commissioner Manu said phase one is almost completed.

In the second phase, ward recorders will do door-to-door visits to ensure all eligible electors verify their enrolment details.

Gamato calls for referendum funding

Gamato said they have yet to receive funding despite the referendum being almost a year away.

There are key areas the Electoral Commission needs to address before the referendum.

Gamato said K20 million has been allocated under the 2018 National Budget for the purposes of preparing for the referendum however, they are yet to receive a toea.

He also called on the ABG for their support.

AROB referendum officers needed

This was announced during a briefing by the Bougainville Referendum Transitional Committee (BRTC) on the progress of work in preparation for the conduct of the referendum in June 2019.

The event, which eventuated on Tuesday 27th of March, saw the participation of heads and representatives of foreign missions in PNG including New Zealand, British, Australian High Commission, Japanese Embassy, the Philippines and the European Union and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Chief Secretary for ABG Joseph Nobetau, who is a member of BRTC, was also in attendance.

Referendum commission yet to be set up

That body is the Bougainville Referendum Commission.

While the charter for the establishment and implementation of the Commission has been successfully signed, the Commission’s set up is behind schedule.

The Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government had four options to conduct the Referendum.

Both governments have omitted the options of either the PNG Electoral Commission and the Bougainville Electoral Commission, nor both, to administer the Referendum.

ABG committed to 2019 Referendum road man: Nasira

Nasira is also the Minister responsible for Referendum and Veterans Affairs.  

“Today we have achieved another milestone, signing today (last week) is a significant leap forward because it gives confident for people in Bougainville and the people of Papua New Guinea that the process is alive and well,” Nasira said.      

He made this comment after the signing of the Bougainville Referendum Commission who will oversee the preparation and conducting of the 2019 Referendum.  

Lack of funds will jeopardise voting

BRC will be the independent agency solely responsible in the preparation and conducting of the referendum.    

A joint administrative agreement to set up BRC was signed recently by the National Government, Bougainville Autonomous Government (ABG) and the independent offices of PNG Electoral Commission and ABG Electoral Commission last week in Port Moresby.

The recruitment and set up of BRC will wait till the Governor General officially signs and releases the commission’s charter.