Conduction of referendum a concern, official says

 AS Bougainville prepares for the proposed referendum, one of the autonomous government’s immediate concerns is to decide which body would conduct the referendum, says a senior public servant.

James Tanis, acting Bougainville Public Service secretary, said the institutions they could engage were the Bougainville Electoral Commission, PNG Electoral Commission or an international body to conduct the referendum.

He said those were the options but a final decision would be made by the ABG and the Government. 

Tanis said with the country’s current economic state country, they (ABG) were also affected but were trying their best to address and implement the core aspects of the referendum.

He said as far as the three pillars of peace agreement  (autonomy, weapons disposal and referendum) were concerned, two of those have been achieved while their main task was to look at the one outstanding. 

“Our task now is to ensure we achieve the necessary components of referendum towards the proposed stage,” he said.

He said the ABG was looking forward to 2020 as the referendum year.

Tanis said the referendum was one of the major events the people of Bougainville looked forward to.

“Referendum was one of the main reasons why those who fought during the Bougainville Crisis laid down their arms,” he said. 

Tanis said at the end of the day it would be up to the people to decide on their future. Current service delivery in the region might not be effective but things may happen later. 

When asked if there was any possibility of extension time before the referendum, he said the peace agreement was constitutionally binding and failure to implement it could cause a constitutional crisis.