• Country/entity

  Papua New Guinea
  Bougainville
  

• Region

  Asia and Pacific
  Asia and Pacific
  

• Agreement name

  Joint Communique on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum

• Date

  11 Jan 2021

• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed

• Interim arrangement

  Yes

• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/intrastate conflict ( Bougainville Conflict (1987 - 1998) )

• Stage

  Implementation/renegotiation

• Conflict nature

  Government/territory

• Peace process

  Bougainville: peace process

• Parties

  Copy of the agreement unsigned, but parties to signed version believed to be James Marape, Prime Minister, Government of Papua New Guinea and Ishmael Toroama, President, Autonomous Bougainville Government.

• Third parties

  -

• Description

  Agreement in which both the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government agree to immediately commence joint consultations as required under the National Constitution and the Bougainville Peace Agreement, following the Bougainville Referendum on independence.

• Agreement document

  PG_210111_Joint Communique.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

Joint Communique on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum

11 January 2021

In furthering the Bougainville Peace process in the Post Referendum period and having met

today, we officially reaffirm and assure the people of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville

that the Governments of PNG and Bougainville are committed to the process of the joint

Consultations on the outcome of the referendum.

The signing of the Joint Communique today signals our intention to immediately commence

the joint consultations as is required by the National Constitution under Section 342 (1) and

the Bougainville Peace Agreement under Clause 311 (b) for the Government of Papua New

Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to consult over the outcome or

result of the Bougainville referendum.

This Joint Communique affirms that as required by the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the

referendum outcome will be subject to ratification (final decision making) of the National

Parliament while Section 342 (2) of the National Constitution has prescribed that the

decision of the National Parliament, relating to the referendum result is subject to

consultation under Section 342 (1).

The Joint Communique builds on the tremendous achievements of both Governments on

the Bougainville Peace process and embraces fully the statement of established facts and

principles as outlined herewith;

• That the Bougainville Peace Agreement provides for a political right to

Bougainvilleans to a referendum among Bougainvilleans, on the future political

status of Bougainville;

and

• That the National Government had guaranteed that political right through Section

338 (1) of the National Constitution;

and

• That the constitutional guarantee for the referendum under Section 338 (1) of the

National Constitution depended on the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s

(ABG) fulfillment of conditions relating to weapons disposal and good governance, of

which the ABG satisfactorily met;

and

• That the choice for separate independence was guaranteed under Section 339 (c) of

the National Constitution as one of a number of possible choices available to

Bougainvilleans in the referendum;

and

• That the both Governments had agreed to the definition of independence before the

conduct of the referendum to mean ‘an independent nation with sovereign powers

and laws, recognized under international law and by other international states to be

an independent state, separate from the state of Papua New Guinea, with a defined

territory, inclusive of maritime boundaries and associated exclusive economic zones;

and a government chosen by its people;

and capacity to enter into and manage

international relations and United Nations membership’;

and

• That the referendum question and the following two choices of option 1 – Greater

Autonomy, and option 2 – Independence was presented to Bougainvilleans in the

referendum and were intended to facilitate a clear result:

;

and

• That the referendum was conducted by an impartial Bougainville Referendum

Commission (BRC), headed by Mr. Bertie Ahern of Ireland, which comprised of a fair

number of representatives from the National Government and the Autonomous

Bougainville Government;

and

• The referendum that was held between November and December 2019 and

witnessed by international observers was free and fair, and according to observer

groups “credible, transparent and inclusive”;

and

• That a total number of 181,067 Bougainvilleans voted in the referendum, out of that

97.7 % of them chose independence;

and

• That the report of the Bougainville Referendum Commission was tabled in both the

National Parliament and the Bougainville House of Representatives, and was

unanimously endorsed by both parliaments.

In adopting fully these established facts and principles;

we hereby agree that the upcoming

joint consultations will be moderated by an appointed Moderator and would be, but not

limited to, addressing the key issues on the future political status of Bougainville, the

method of endorsement by the National Parliament and the Documentation of record of the

joint consultation.

Finally, in memory of the late Sir Mekere Morauta, for his contributions to the Bougainville

Peace process as a former Prime Minister of our Nation and for his role as a signatory to the

Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001, this Joint Communique embodies both our

Government’s sincerity to continued peace by peaceful means.

God Bless our people of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville.

Source:

https://reliefweb.int/report/papua-new-guinea/occasion-signing-jointcommunique-prime-minister-papua-new-guinea-honourable