October Parliament ratification

The National Parliament will resume this afternoon for one of its most important sittings yet in the country’s history.

The October session is when the future of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and its aspiration to secede Papua New Guinea as a separate independent nation will be debated and decided by the National Legislature.

In August, Bougainville Affairs Minister, Manasseh Makiba had tabled results from the 2019 Referendum, in which 97-point-7-percent of people had voted for a separate independence from mainland Papua New Guinea.

The Referendum Result was also accompanied with the Melanesian Framework, developed from the Melanesian Relationship Agreement signed in June last year, and the Joint Consultations Report, which highlights all major dialogue and engagements between the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government since and the agreed outcomes from each of those meetings.

The Melanesian Framework provides a practical and phased or sequential transition for Bougainville from autonomy to self-government and eventually independence, while retaining a close, peaceful and enduring relationship between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.

The Melanesian Framework will however, only come into play ‘if’ the National Parliament votes in favour of independence for Bougainville.

Given the Speaker had approved a three-quarters voting majority to give effect to Bougainville’s independence aspiration, this means at least more than 88 of the 118 MP’s must vote in favour of the Motion which will ask if Parliament accepts the results of the 2019 Referendum.

In an information session with the mainstream media in Port Moresby last week, Chief Secretaries Ivan Pomaleu of the National Government and Kearnneth Nanei representing the Autonomous Bougainville Government, say it has been acknowledged that the independence issue is ‘ring-fenced’ only to Bougainville, and that the Melanesian Framework has been jointly negotiated and agreed on to provide a responsible and constitutionally guard-railed pathway that respects the role of the National Parliament and the wish of the people.

The National Parliament will be accorded an information session prior to the October sitting, where the Technical Team of the National Government will brief Members on the Melanesian Framework and the Joint Consultation Report now before the House.

It is still unclear when Parliament will take the historic ratification vote, however, it is certain that the Bougainville issue will be top among the agenda, where the House will debate the issue with reference to the documents tabled before it, before the actual vote can take place.

The Melanesian Relationship Agreement states that this current 11th National Parliament will have the duty to discharge the Bougainville agenda, seven years after the independence Referendum was conducted.

In their last meeting in East New Britain in June, the ABG had presented the National Government side with a document outlining Bougainville’s Final Position.

This document generally outlines Bougainville proposing moving into Self-Government by September 2027 and to make a declaration for independence three years later in 2030.

On its part, the National Government acknowledges that both sides would move to implement the Melanesian Framework only if and when Parliament votes YES in favour of independence, however proposes a return to further joint consultations if Parliament votes otherwise.

The ABG has not clearly revealed its next cause of action if Parliament fails to vote in favour of independence.

It is however, pursuing two other simultaneous pathways to secure independence for Bougainville, apart from the Ratification process outlined under the Peace Agreement which has been running for over twenty years.

These processes include writing its own Constitution – a precedence from Papua New Guinea itself, as well as lobbying international support in recognition of its cause.