The Honourable Mr James Marape, The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Honourable National Government Members of the Joint Supervisory Body, Honourable Mr Makiba, Minister responsible for Bougainville Affairs, Honourable Ezekiel Masatt, Bougainville’s Minister for Independence Mission Implementation, and the Autonomous Bougainville Government Members of the Joint Supervisory Body, Heads of Foreign Missions, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I bid you all – a very Good Morning.

Firstly, let me thank you, Honorable Prime Minister, for your warm welcome.

Your commitment to this process has brought us a long way.

We have faced challenges, but that have only made us more determined than ever, to move on.

We are here today to revise the Moderator’s Terms of Reference because it is the most sensible thing to do, going forward.

Broadening his mandate sits well with the intent and spirit of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

But it is the Constitution that has given us the guiding light to the manner in which the process ought to be implemented.

Honorable Prime Minister, while the work of the Moderator is a challenging one, we cannot simply expect him to provide us with answers in negotiating the Independence for Bougainville.

The onus is on the ABG and the National Government to find an enduring political settlement for Bougainville’s independence as reflected in the referendum results.

We must realize that part of the problem is with us - by our continuing to hide behind labels of political correctness or words of overblown sensitivity.

Time has caught up with us.

We have to face the realities of the facts before us and give answers to the hard questions of Bougainville’s aspiration for independence. As the Moderator has said in his statement to us, we have to put all the cards on the table.

We have to speak truthfully about the things we say.

The “political status” of Bougainville has also already been determined in history by the overwhelming vote of the Bougainville people for independence.

The so called “referendum results” has already been determined in history to be one and the same as “independence”.

The so called “consultation” which was constitutionally imposed upon us under Section 342 (1) had already resulted in the Wabag Roadmap called the Joint Roadmap for the Implementation of the Referendum Results.

This was later documented through the Era Kone Covenant.

We need to speak more plainly and frankly about these issues.

We need to speak honestly about these things.

We need to call things by their proper name.

We need to call a spade a spade and start to refer to Bougainville’s political settlement as independence.

Bougainville will no longer shy away from using the word “independence” in our narrative, and urge PNG to understand and do the same.

Honorable Prime Minister, the second thing that I wish to highlight as well is that the Moderator’s task concerns a process that applies only to Bougainville.

It is important that I mention this because the Moderator’s task does not concern our greater Papua New Guinea.

I believe the difficulty that the National Government has is that it does not want the Parliaments role to be seen as lacking in the authority that it ought to have under the Constitution of the independent State of Papua New Guinea.

I believe this is where the problem is: because the National Government does not see the exemption that the National Constitution gives to this process under a number of very important provisions of the Part 14 of the National Constitution, starting with Section 276 (1) and (2); Section 278 (4) and Section 348.

Yet the dispute over the content of the sessional order is not a legal dispute. It is essentially political.

Honorable Prime Minister, it is important also to highlight that one of the amendment we have agreed relates to the duration of the Moderator’s work. It is critical that his work is done within the life of the Fourth ABG House of Representatives.

Honorable Prime Minister, in conclusion I believe in a comprehensive framework that will implement independence for Bougainville beyond the ratification by way of endorsement of the outcome of the referendum.

We must accept this in good faith and as a mark of mutual respect because this comprehensive framework will be an inevitable part of this process.

Honorable Prime Minister and members of the Joint Supervisory Body, for the Moderator’s revised Terms of Reference to have a successful outcome towards the creation of an enduring peace and long lasting relationship between Papua New Guinea and Bougainville, I believe there is much to be covered in that framework for a stronger political alliance upon the attainment of Bougainville’s independence.

Thank You.

May God Bless Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.

H.E. Ishmael Toroama
President of Bougainville

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