JSB deferred to July 31, 2023
The Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) Meeting between the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the National Government has been rescheduled to July 31 after having been deferred from July 21.
The JSB is the meeting between the two governments that discuss the administration of the autonomous arrangements that exist on Bougainville and deliberates on the socioeconomic and political aspects of the region’s autonomy.
The deferral was caused by the National Government’s technical team who revealed to their Bougainville counterparts at the last minute that they were not prepared to meet with them.
Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama while disappointed at the deferral of the meeting remained adamant that progress would be made when the two governments met at the end of the month.
“It is my intention that the Autonomous Bougainville Government always meets the parameters of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement which calls for the joint implementation of reviewing the autonomous arrangements and progressing the Bougainville process on self determination,” President Toroama said.
“The ABG and the National Government have signed several agreements on progressing the issue of Bougainville’s independence aspirations since the 2019 Referendum. These agreements have outlined a timeline to address the issue through a joint consultative approach,” President Toroama added.
“High on our agenda is the Ratification of the Referendum Results by National Parliament that will happen this year according to the timeline from the Wabag Roadmap,” President Toroama said.
President Toroama said that the planned JSB would have allowed both governments to deliberate on the Ratification process and how it would be tabled in parliament by the Minister for Bougainville Affairs Manasseh Makiba.
Currently both governments are at loggerheads on how the ratification of the referendum results would be tabled in parliament and the parliamentary protocols that parliament would have to abide by.
“My foremost responsibility is to the government and people of Bougainville, 97 percent of whom voted for independence during the 2019 Bougainville Referendum,” President Toroama said.
“Whether the National side are prepared or not my government will always honour our commitment to the aspirations of our people for an independent Bougainville. We will do so through the established legal framework that governs the Bougainville process,” President Toroama stated.
[ Back to News ]
