Bougainville set for independence vote

ARAWA, Papua New Guinea (AFP) — The resource-rich Pacific archipelago of Bougainville will hold a landmark referendum Saturday on independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG), a vote that could create the world’s newest nation and prompt a dash for influence among regional powers.

Voters in the verdant, conflict-marked isles will decide if they want independence or greater autonomy within PNG, an ethnically diverse nation of eight million.

The referendum is designed to draw a line under a brutal 10-year civil war that killed 20,000 people — 10 percent of the population — before it ended in 1998.

Of Bougainville’s estimated current population of just over quarter of a million, around 200,000 registered voters will cast their ballots over two weeks, with results expected around December 15.

Chief referendum officer Mauricio Claudio called the poll the “continuation of a long, successful peace process” that quieted a complex war between separatist factions, Papua New Guinea security forces, proxy groups and foreign mercenaries.

The vote “should not give rise to violence or conflict,” Claudio said Tuesday in Buka, the region’s main city. “It should be a joyous event.”

Ahead of the referendum, once-sworn enemies have taken part in tearful reconciliation ceremonies, where arrows were broken to symbolize the end of the conflict.

With no reliable public opinion polls, the outcome of the vote is uncertain and PNG’s parliament would have to decide whether to ratify the result under a 2001 peace deal.