Independence vote delayed for PNG’s Bougainville

PORT MORESBY: A referendum that could lead to statehood for the troubled south Pacific Island of Bougainville has been delayed until the end of the year, top officials meeting here agreed yesterday.

Amid a row over funding, the vote, which could split the island from Papua New Guinea and create a new country, will not take place in June as planned.

Bertie Ahern, the former Irish prime minister who chairs the referendum commission, said that holding the vote on June 15 as planned was “just not possible”.

“This is, of course, disappointing to me and everyone else, but it is the reality of the situation,” he said, recommending that the vote now take place on Oct 17.

That recommendation was accepted by the regional and central government, and voting is likely to take place over multiple days.

The vote is seen as a key pillar of a 2001 peace process that ended a brutal decade-long civil war that killed up to 20,000 people — one in 10 of the island’s population.

The battle between secessionists and the central Papua New Guinea government only ended with a promise of autonomy and an eventual vote on statehood.

Both the government in Port Moresby and authorities in Bougainville indicated they wanted that vote to go ahead, but preparations have been hindered by the government’s failure to provide the bulk of promised funding for the effort.

There have also been concerns about the accuracy of the voter rolls.