Archipelago’s flags replace Papua New Guinean ones on government buildings ahead of voting in referendum

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Bougainville will head to the polls tomorrow to decide whether the region will seek independence from Papua New Guinea and become the world’s newest country, in a referendum that has been 20 years in the making.

The small archipelago of islands about 700km east of mainland Papua New Guinea, will hold a referendum that its people have been looking forward to since the ceasefire that ended a brutal civil war in 1998 and the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001.

With predictions that the majority of 206,000 registered voters will cast their ballots for independence, there is a general air of expectancy in the region.

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In the past week, hundreds of scrutineers, observers, and local and international media have descended on the islands of Buka and Bougainville to witness the start of polling on Saturday. Voting will take place over two weeks, with a result announced in December.

Bougainville is an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea and has its own government, but it still depends on the national government for most of its income.

On Friday, the red and black of the Papua New Guinea flag had been replaced by the colbalt blue of the Bougainville flag on local government buildings.

Raymond, a youth leader from Arawa, said that in the minds of Bougainvilleans, Bougainville has long been in a state of disconnect from PNG.

“This is something we’ve wanted and accepted for a long time.

“Our elders have often spoken about the good times when Bougainville was thriving economically because of our resources,… but we the youth have never known that life. This is our reality, this is our hardship. And we are hoping that this vote will take us back to those ‘good times’.”

According to the Bougainville Referendum Commission (BRC), which is coordinating the vote, the numbers of voters include a high number of young people.

Despite their expectations, many Bougainvilleans are aware that their votes does not signal the end of the road.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bougainville school children display a giant flag of Bougainville Photograph: Lloyd Jones/AAP

The 2001 peace agreement, which ended the decade-long civil war in which an estimated 20,000 Bougainvilleans died, states that the outcome of the referendum will be subject to ratification by the national government.

If the vote for independence is rejected by the government many fear it could lead to frustration and even violence and jeopardise what has been a highly successful peace process.

The peace process has included reconciliations between the victims and the perpetrators of violence of the 10 year long crisis, and large-scale weapons disposal.

In an official visit to Bougainville in September, PNG’s prime minister James Marape promised that his government would give its full support to the process and that leaders from both sides must ensure that there is safety and security.

The BRC anticipates a safe, free and fair election over the next two weeks, with BRC commissioner Ruby Mirinka saying in Port Moresby recently that “the people of Bougainville must trust the process and make sure that it is a free, fair and safe peaceful conduct of referendum that every Bougainvillean will enjoy the process of voting.”