Webster: More needs to be told about referendum

MORE awareness of the outcome of the 2019 Bougainville referendum is just as important as staging the referendum itself, says the public policy think-tank National Research Institute.
Bougainville referendum research project team leader Dr Thomas Webster told FM100 yesterday that people needed to know what would happen after 2019.
Webster said there were seven studies on the referendum: Referendum case study; referendum administration issues; political autonomy; fiscal autonomy; status of implementing peace agreement and implications for referendum; outcome issues; and background on Bougainville Peace Agreement and implications.
“As we start to unpack this referendum, we realise that there are a whole lot of issues that need to be discussed and understood by both the Government and the officials in PNG, and the people and officials of Bougainville,” he said.
Webster said the questions of “independence” or “autonomy” needed to be discussed further.
“Will people be able to accept that and then move on in life after the referendum?” he said.
“The difficult part will be the political leadership: What do you do after the referendum?
“Leaders have to pull people together.
“Some people will vote for a choice that will not win in the outcome of the referendum.
“For instance, they vote for independence and the outcome might be autonomy.
“The leadership at the end of the day will pull everybody together.”