MPs urged to be better informed

National

NATIONAL Members of Parliament do not understand the Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) well enough to decide on the result of the Bougainville Referendum, Parliament Bipartisan Committee on Bougainville Matters deputy chairman Henry Isi Leonard says.
“MPs don’t understand the ratification process because they don’t fully understand the relationship between the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) because most of the departments that they are heading still treat ABG as just another provincial government,” he said.
Leonard said there was a need to educate MPs because according to the BPA, after the referendum, the results would go to Parliament to be ratified.
He said yesterday that Bougainvilleans and the rest Papua New Guinea needed to understand the BPA process.
“Bougainvilleans need to know what they are voting for, either independence or greater autonomy, and they have to know the consequences of their choices,” he said.
“For us (MPs), we must try to understand what Bougainvilleans want and why the referendum is happening.
“Our MPs must be educated on the issues on Bougainville.
“If we give them independence, what are the responsibilities. If we give them greater autonomy, what are we going to do?”