Dr Webster challenged

The National Letters

DR Thomas Webster can be complimented for highlighting some of the issues that should be considered in order to have a transparent Bougainville referendum which will produce credible results that cannot be challenged by the national government.
However, there is nothing new that Dr Webster can tell us since everything is already provided under the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
What raises dissatisfaction among many of us who continue to follow Dr Webster’s column on the Bougainville referendum, is that he cannot preach about what is not captured under the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
For instance, Dr Webster continues to place more emphasis on the issue of campaigning on the two referendum questions.
According to Webster, when campaigning for the two options the voters should equally be made aware of the implications of greater autonomy and independence. Webster goes on to say that campaigning for the two options should be more balanced or given equal periods of timing.
He states that not complying with these could result in the PNG government challenging the results of the referendum.
The fact is that these additional inclusions by Dr Webster on the issue of campaigning for either independence or greater autonomy have never been part of the peace agreement and it is not part of the Bougainville and PNG Constitution.
The peace agreement and the PNG and Bougainville constitutions do not provide for issues relating to campaigning before the referendum and what strategies to apply when campaigning for the options.
Moreover, Dr Webster appears to be more interested in finding or digging out irrelevant faults that are not captured under the peace agreement and making them important issues.
Can the good Dr Webster stick to what is there in the peace agreement and not preach about what is not in the peace agreement?
Can the good Dr Webster let Bougainvillean voters vote for their own choices rather than being manipulated into doing something else? This could cause more confusions, even to the PNG government.

Robert Ona
Panguna