Johnny
Blades RNZ Pacific senior journalist
Signs
of the deep emotional scars from Bougainville’s history have
surfaced in Papua New Guinea’s parliament as it debates
whether to approve independence for the autonomous
region.
The national parliament has the final say on
whether to ratify the result of Bougainville’s 2019
non-binding referendum in which 97.7 percent of people voted
for independence.
Every member of parliament is being
given a chance to speak in the debate on whether to give
Bougainville independence. After debate this week, it will
resume in November, before an eventual vote on
ratification.
Since the referendum result was finally
tabled in parliament in August, MPs have been tasked with
reading key documents related to the long running
negotiations which followed the referendum
One of them
is the Melanesian framework where both PNG and Bougainville
agreed on a basis for preparing and managing the transition
ahead – either way the vote goes.
The MP for
Bougainville North, Francesca Semoso, urged parliament to
vote in the affirmative.
She said MPs should not lose
sight of the legacy of the civil war and ensuing crisis in
Bougainville in the 1990s, when it’s estimated that between
15,000 and 20,000 people died.
‘Hard
time’
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Semoso told MPs that the war was among the most
devastating experiences in the Pacific since the Second
World War.
“Its consequences reached far beyond the
fighting itself: families were separated; communities were
divided; schools and health facilities ceased to function
effectively; livelihoods were disrupted … some wounds
remain difficult to discuss even today.
“We must never
allow the passing of years to diminish our appreciation of
that suffering,” Semoso said.
Bougainville Central MP
Timothy Masiu said a commitment to forgiveness,
reconciliation, and healing became foundations on which a
lasting peace was built in his region.
But like
Semoso, he said there had been too much sacrifice by
Bougainvilleans to ignore.
“The young men and women
who bore the greatest sacrifices during the crisis, many
gave their lives.
“Many others continued to carry
physical, emotional, and of course, personal burdens of that
period. It was a hard time.”
Vanimo MP Belden Namah
has been a prominent figure in the public debate about
Bougainville’s future, speaking firmly against
independence.
Namah told parliament that he stood by
the actions he and others took as military officers in the
1990s to stop PNG’s government hiring mercenaries against
Bougainvilleans – in what was called the Sandline
Crisis.
The MP said that despite being on opposing
sides in the war, Bougainvilleans should acknowledge that he
and other PNG soldiers took action in a bid to keep the
country united.
“When we stood together as one nation,
one country and one people, to stop the decision of the
government of that day in sending the Sandline mercenaries
to Bougainville, with a mission to wipe out the entire
island, not only focused on the BRAs (Bougainville
Revolutionary Army), but any Bougainvilleans who opposed the
government of that day, none of them have acknowledged the
sacrifices that we took.”
It is unlikely that the
required threshold for ratification of a three-quarters
majority of MPs will be met – that is clear from the
speeches on this issue from many MPs who argue PNG unity is
at stake.
‘Time in history’
Masiu appealed to
Bougainvilleans by saying the parliament process currently
on foot was not the end of their quest for
independence.
“Let us not see this as an end to our
journey. We will keep on going. We will keep on moving. We
will keep on moving till we come to our God-destined future,
and that is the independence of Bougainville.”
The
prime minister James Marape called for a win-win outcome,
whether parliament votes yes or no.
He earlier gave
signals that if parliament votes yes, then a transition
period follows in which Bougainville gradually prepares for
independence – and if it votes no, then a different
transition period follows after which the issue can be
revisited by parliament.
“I have two papers to speak.
As the final vote is taken, if it is majority in the yes,
it’s a constitutional vote, and if majority is in the yes, I
have a yes paper to present.
“If majority says no, I
have no paper to present. At the end of the day, this must
converge at a time in history again,” Marape
said.
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