The historic vote caps a decades-long peace process and a long recovery from a brutal civil war between Bougainville rebels, PNG security forces and foreign mercenaries that ended in 1998 and left up to 20,000 people dead — 10 percent of the population.

BUKA, Papua New Guinea (AFP) — Voters backing Bougainville’s independence from Papua New Guinea have won a landslide referendum victory, according to results released Wednesday — a major step toward the troubled isles becoming the world’s newest nation.

Chairman of the Bougainville Referendum Commission Bertie Ahern declared 176,928 people — just over 98 percent of voters — had backed independence with just 3,043 supporting the option of remaining part of PNG with more autonomy.

The announcement prompted loud cheers, applause and tears as dignitaries soon burst into song, with strains of the islands’ anthem “My Bougainville” ringing out.

“Happy is an understatement” nursing graduate Alexia Baria told AFP, “you see my tears, this is the moment we have been waiting for.”

The historic vote caps a decades-long peace process and a long recovery from a brutal civil war between Bougainville rebels, PNG security forces and foreign mercenaries that ended in 1998 and left up to 20,000 people dead — 10 percent of the population.

“Now, at least psychologically, we feel liberated,” said John Momis, the priest-turned-leader of the autonomous region’s government.

But independence will not be immediate, a long political process lies ahead and leaders face formidable financial and administrative challenges to turn a cluster of poor Pacific islands into a fully-fledged nation.

The result must first be ratified by PNG’s parliament — where there is opposition to the move for fear it may spark other independence movements in a nation defined by disparate linguistic and tribal groups.

The scale of the victory for the pro-independence side will heap pressure on Port Moresby to endorse the result.

Speaking in Buka, Ahern urged all sides to recognize a vote that was about “your peace, your history, and your future” and showed “the power of the pen over weapons.”

Puka Temu, Port Moresby’s minister for Bougainville affairs, said “the outcome is a credible one” but asked that voters “allow the rest of Papua New Guinea sufficient time to absorb this result.”

In stark contrast to past internecine bloodshed, voting began on 23 November with ecstatic residents — some festooned in grass garlands — forming makeshift choirs that stomped through the streets, waving independence flags, blowing bamboo pipes and chanting in chorus.

The vote officially ended on 7 December and according to the Bougainville Referendum Commission it passed off without major incident.

Many Bougainvilleans were realistic about difficulties ahead. Gerald Dising, a store owner who travelled from the far south of Bougainville to witness the result, described it as a “first hurdle” being passed.

Politicians, he said, “now have a huge task to implement the wishes of our people.”