Autonomous Bougainville Government
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The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG; Tok Pisin: Otonomos Bogenvil Gavman[1]) is the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.[2]
Structure
[edit]The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Government shall consist of three branches:[3]
- Executive – the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, who chairs the Bougainville Executive Council
- Legislative – the Bougainville House of Representatives (39 elected members and 2 ex officio members).
- Judicial – the Bougainville Courts, including a Supreme Court and High Court.
History
[edit]The government was established in 2000 following a peace agreement between the government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), a guerrilla movement.[2] Elections for the first autonomous government were held in May and June 2005; Joseph Kabui was elected president, with Joseph Watawi selected by the House of Representatives as vice-president.[4]
A non-binding referendum for independence from Papua New Guinea was held in December 2019.[5] This was in accordance with the terms of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, which requires such a referendum to be held by 2020.[6] There were concerns that the referendum could result in violence due to unresolved tensions from the Bougainville conflict.[7] In this referendum, 98% of voters voted in favour of independence.[8]
Constitutional amendments proposed in February 2020, would see the Autonomous Bougainville Government renamed as the "Bougainville Constitutional Transitional Government".[9] It is aimed that the government will be governing an independent Republic of Bougainville, separate from the Monarchy of Papua New Guinea, in 2027 following an agreement with the PNG governement.[10][2][11] In 2025, the Autonmous Bougainville Government converted the legislature into a constituent assembly in preparation for independence.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Autonomous Bougainville Government (April 2019). Referendum TOKSAVE (PDF). Fact Sheet No. 3 (in Tok Pisin). Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b c Kelly, Liv. "The world could be getting a brand-new country in 2027". Time Out. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ The Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (PDF). p. 28, S41 – via Autonomous Bougainville Government.
- ^ "Amnesty International Report 2000 - Papua New Guinea". Refworld. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Target Date Set for Bougainville Referendum". ABC News. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ Boungainville Peace Agreement (PDF). p. 1, S2 – via Autonomous Bougainville Government.
- ^ Woodbury, Jo (2015). The Bougainville Independence Referendum: Assessing the Risks and Challenges Before, During and After the Referendum (PDF). Indo-Pacific Strategic Papers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2015.
- ^ Yeung, Jessie; Watson, Angus (11 December 2019). "Bougainville Independence Vote Delivers Emphatic Demand to Become World's Newest Nation". CNN. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ Tulo, Meriba (19 February 2020). "Bougainville Proposing Constitution Amendments, Rejects 'Process' Claim". Asia Pacific Report. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ "Bougainville: The world's next new country?". The World from PRX. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Doherty, Ben (10 January 2025). "'No one will stop our people': Bougainville president defiant in push for independence". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Bougainville converts legislature into constituent assembly to transition to independence". ConstitutionNet. Retrieved 16 July 2025.