Application by president will be heard

By KARO JESSE
A SPECIAL application filed by Bougainville president John Momis and his executive council seeking the court’s interpretation on certain provisions of Bougainville constitution pursuant to section 210 will be heard on April 9.
Momis’ lawyer Loani Henao told the court that the substantive application needed to be heard before any processes regarding presidential elections began because there were certain provisions that needed to be clarified by the court.
“Despite a halt in issuance of writs for the presidential election because of the state of emergency declared in Bougainville, we are in a period of general elections, according to the Bougainville constitution,” he said.
“The matter is urgent and should be heard before things go back to normal and the presidential election begins.”
During the directions hearing yesterday, Henao told the court the Bougainville House of Representatives complicated the situation when they proposed amendments to certain provisions of the Bougainville constitution.
The special application filed is challenging the validity of section 89 (2) and 91 (4) of the Bougainville constitution.
The application seeks to clarify whether the provision of section 55 (5) (b) regarding the lawful status of former combatant members of the house impacted on the outcome of a vote to amend the sections 89 (2) and 91(4) (f).
The role and position of the representative of former combatants ceased to exist after the referendum according to the Bougainville constitution, however, the representatives of the former combatants continued to take part in affairs of the Bougainville House of Representatives post referendum.