IT was moving to hear soldier-cum-politician, Beldan Norman Namah speak so passionately about Bougainville, and his desire to see it remain an integral part of Papua New Guinea.
It is easy to understand where he is coming from if you understand his history.
He fought on Bougainville, saw comrades fall in battle, and he saw Bougainvilleans fall for their cause.
In the middle of the crisis he disengaged from Bougainville to fight his own Government which landed him in prison for the crime of treason.
The mutiny involved Brigadier- General Jerry Singorok, Major Walter Enuma and a number of others because they believed firmly that they were fighting to put down a rebellion on sovereign territory; that there were rebels operating on PNG territory and that involvement of an international mercenary group would create an irreconcilable repercussion and a situation where loyalist Bougainvilleans might join the rebel cause believing PNG did not want them.
They acted on their convictions and with the exception of Singirok, Namah and company ended up in prison.
Sir Michael Somare eventually pardoned the group when he gained government, but that history belongs in another telling.
Right now, the prevailing mood that Namah and company imagined existed on Bougainville has shifted substantially.
The tide has turned.
So much so that in November 2019, 97 out of every 100 people that voted in a referendum opted for Independence for Bougainville.
The majority of the island’s population want to separate from PNG, it seems.
This is the vote that has to be ratified or be rejected by the PNG parliament.
And understandably, it is easier said than done.
The Parliamentary Committee on Bougainville headed by Rabaul MP, Allan Marat, yesterday tabled its report.
As expected there were no surprises, no long list of recommendations.
Despite what might have been, the differing interpretations of the legal and political questions and the referendum results and the role and discretion of the National Parliament allowed by the National Constitution, the committee reported that a large proportion of those whom the committee approached, both on Bougainville and elsewhere in PNG, “emphasised the importance of respecting the expressed will of the Bougainville voters”.
There were others who exercised caution, the committee was careful to note that they pushed for greater emphasis on constitutional procedure, national cohesion and any practical requirements associated with any change in political status.
We recognise the committee‘s own reluctance to point directions down whichever way the nation walks down so as not to pre-empt a final position of Parliament on this super sensitive issue until full and proper debate is had.
We concur with the committee that it is so very important to maintain peace and avoid at all costs a return to conflict and the need for transparent, well communicated Parliamentary processes. This later process has very much been found wanting since the referendum was concluded.
What is clear, and here pro-independence advocates must take heed, it will take a lot longer to transit to a new state.
The experience of PNG’s walk into Independence should be an excellent benchmark for Bougainville.
Does Bougainville have all it requires to sail into the world as an independent nation; what of loyalists who might want to remain with PNG?
And for PNG — what does prolonging the question really lead to?
Many more provinces are talking about autonomy now and the only experience PNG has had so far has led to a vote for independence.
The longer PNG dilly-dallies with the Bougainville referendum question, the more impetus it gives to those other provinces which might want to do the same.
Given the history of Bougainville’s push — it dates back to the early 1960s — and the fact that democratic principles warrants a majority vote and that has been taken in the case of Bougainville, time might have arrived to grant the majority Bougainvilleans their wish, amend the Constitution to prevent future referendums and carry on the all important task of governing the rest of the country.
