The PNG government agreed to a Bougainville request for a moderator to be brought in to solve an impasse over the tabling of the region's independence referendum. Photo: 123RF / RNZ Pacific
There are hopes in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville that talks on the independence issue will resume this week.
Bougainville's autonomous government (ABG) wants a commitment from PNG that it will table the results of an independence referendum in its parliament.
The Bougainville politicians place a lot of credence in this referendum, which, while non-binding, had a 97.7 percent backing for Bougainville to become independent.
Ten days of meetings earlier this month at the New Zealand military camp at Burnham, near Christchurch, failed to reach resolution.
Former NZ Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae is the independent moderator appointed to mediate a political pathway between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. 13 June 2025 Photo: Autonomous Bougainville Government
The moderator, former New Zealand Governor General, Sir Jerry Mateparae, said that meeting concluded with a proposal for a 'Melanesian relationship agreement' which, he said, would be debated by the leaders in the last week of June.
What is in that 'Melanesian relationship,' put forward by Bougainville, hasn't been made clear.
But Bougainville Attorney General Ezekiel Masatt, said the ABG will not be accepting the PNG suggestions of 'free association' or some sort of 'confederation' within PNG.
Meanwhile, a former PNG Chief Secretary, Isaac Lupari, said the National Constitution doesn't allow for any part of the country to secede, so it up to parliament to decide on Bougainville's status.
Sir John Kaputin, a former MP and the former State negotiator for PNG on the Bougainville Peace Agreement, has reminded leaders of the need for compromise.
He said: "It's a two-way thing that leaders of Bougainville must be serious about their leadership among our people and it's up for the National Government to listen to what they are proposing."
