Skate, Kabui at odds over Bougainville independence
By Norm Dixon
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Bill Skate stated bluntly on August 4 that he will not permit Bougainville to become independent. His statement has called into question the peace process under way on the island. The Bougainville Interim Government criticised Skate's statement and reiterated that independence remains the BIG's goal.
Skate made the comment during an address to the National Press Club in Canberra, soon after talks with the Australian government. "As long as I'm the prime minister, or anyone who comes after me as PM, [Bougainville will be] an integral part of PNG", he said.
In an interview broadcast on ABC radio on August 4, Skate said independence remained non-negotiable. He pointed out that the agreements that formed the basis of the "permanent and irrevocable cease-fire" did not make provision for the option of independence.
"The Lincoln agreement is quite clear. There was nothing in that agreement that talks about independence ... There was nothing in that agreement about independence because I instructed my officers purposely not to include that", he said.
Skate's interpretation of the peace agreements is at odds with that of the independence movement. BIG agrees that the "political question" was deliberately not addressed in the Lincoln agreement, but says that there was a clear understanding that the issue of the island's future status would be discussed during the next stage of the peace process — talks originally scheduled for June in Bougainville's capital, Arawa.
The talks have been postponed five times because PNG has delayed the withdrawal of PNG troops from the area around Arawa. The meeting is now tentatively scheduled for August 20-21 in Buin, south Bougainville.
Netherlands-based BIG secretary Martin Miriori told Green Left Weekly in May: "A referendum is our bottom line. We believe the peace process, starting with the Burnham agreements, the Lincoln agreement, even the cease-fire, almost guarantees that such a democratic resolution must be achieved."
BIG leader Joseph Kabui on August 11 reiterated the independence movement's position. "Our ultimate goal is independence and we will not compromise our position with the government", he said.
Kabui added that the issue of self-determination must be the first task addressed by the Bougainville Reconciliation Government, which must be elected before December 31. "Before the formation of the reconciliation government, we will ensure there is clear provision for the conducting of a referendum", he insisted.
On July 15, the BIG's Australian representative, Moses Havini, accused the PNG government and the Australian government's aid agency, Ausaid, of "orchestrating a policy of isolation" of the BIG. Havini said that Ausaid funds sent via the PNG government are not reaching the BIG.
"While other political parties on Bougainville are being funded with modern office and communication resources and personnel, the BIG is having to rely on outdated and totally inadequate equipment and resources, effectively crippling its efforts in publishing the peace agenda, and developing a valid presence in the ongoing reconstruction ...
"BIG village areas being starved of necessary aid that other areas are receiving. There has been no aid from PNG or Australia going to humanitarian projects organised by the BIG", Havini said.
Concerns at the failure of the Skate government to deliver on promises to restore basic services have also been expressed by Michael Laimo, MP for South Bougainville in the national parliament, and John Momis, Bougainville MP and opposition spokesperson on Bougainville affairs.
"Skate's credibility on Bougainville is at its lowest", Momis said. "He has become very transparent, and there is a very real danger that the people, who took the initiative in the current peace process, may abandon it because they are fed up with [the national government's] culture of lies and bigger lies."
Meanwhile, the anti-peace process faction of the BIG led by former BIG president Francis Ona has renamed itself the Makamui National Chiefs' Assembly. Its armed wing will be known as the Makamui Defence Force.
Ona reported that the decision was made at a meeting of 700 chiefs and supporters in Guava, near the closed Panguna copper mine, on July 28-31. "The good name of the Bougainville Interim Government" had been tarnished by power-hungry people using it for their own purposes, Ona said.