Politics
Peace at Last on Bougainville
And Theodore Miriung isn't forgotten.
The tears of Veronica Miriung, which she openly shed on the eve of the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in Papua New Guinea¹s decade-long war of secession, were more than just symbolic.
The tears were for her husband, former Bougainville Premier Theodore Miriung, who was assassinated while pursuing this very peace. It was a day which her husband always wanted to be part of. But he did not live to witness it. The agreement was signed in Arawa, once a sprawling capital of North Solomon Islands province, but now in ruin.
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Described by observers as the "champion of Bougainville peace", Miriung was one of very few people who carried the trust of the Papua New Guinea Government and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). This was at a time when the conflict was at its height.
When he became premier of what was then called the Bougainville Transitional Government in 1996, he also took on the role as a peace broker between the Papua New Guinea Government and the BRA.
It was a difficult period but he courageously made new ground only to be shot in front of his family over dinner one night. The Papua New Guinea security forces members based in Bougainville then were blamed for his death. But to this day, his killers have yet to be arrested and convicted. Miriung¹s contribution set the groundwork for what has become of Bougainville today.
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At the signing, Bougainville People¹s Congress chief Joseph Kabui paid tribute to the efforts of a man he held in high esteem.
Miriung's wife could only wish he was present at the signing to witness the fruits of his efforts. She was reported as saying: "All these years I have wished that my husband was around to see what we are witnessing."
The signing was a major regional event, apart from the Fiji elections. It attracted leaders from Australia and New Zealand, representatives from Fiji and Vanuatu, and observers from the United Nations and the Commonwealth. Locally, it was a historic occasion for both the Bougainvilleans and the rest of Papua New Guinea. At least peace will now be maintained for some time after the loss of many lives, estimated to be about 15,000 to 20,000 from both sides. It also came after the signing of more than 20 agreements in pursuit for peace, normalcy and political settlement on Bougainville since 1989.
It signals a new era, a political regime that will be the basis of a new social and economic order for Bougainville.
The signing sets the stage for work to begin on weapons disposal, an autonomous government for Bougainville, and a referendum for independence. The Government will now begin the process of turning the agreement into bills for Parliament to consider. Under the agreement, the North Solomons province will be governed by a Bougainville Constitution, separate from the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Governments, which governs all the other 18 provinces in the country.
The Bougainville Constitution will be the authority that will provide for government structures for the autonomous Bougainville Government and it will be enforceable by the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea.
A Constitutional Commission and a Constituent Assembly will be established by the Bougainville Interim Provincial Government and the Bougainville People's Congress in consultation with the Papua New Guinea Government. The Assembly and the Commission will be tasked with the drafting of the Bougainville Constitution.
The final draft of the Constitution will then be submitted to the National Executive Council, who will then advise the Head of State, the Governor-General, to endorse what will then become the Bougainville Constitution.
It will be the supreme law as far as matters falling within Bougainville¹s jurisdiction.
Under the agreement also, Bougainville will have its own public service, police, tax regime, commercial bank and courts. These will be governed by the Bougainville Constitution. The Papua New Guinea Government will maintain control over all defence force and foreign affairs matters.
Leaders who signed the agreement include Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta, whose attendance was his first official visit to Bougainville after taking over the high office in 1998. He hailed the deal as a major breakthrough for the Bougainville conflict.
Morauta said the government gave rise to a new order of lasting peace on Bougainville. "My government is fully committed to giving priority and commitment to Bougainville," Morauta said.
"The reshaping of a previous political order requires a shared vision. But vision alone is not enough. The challenge for all of us who have taken part in this joint creation is to cooperate in its implementation."
He said to make the agreement become law, the government must muster the numbers to pass laws in Parliament. Bougainville Governor John Momis described the signing as a new era while Bougainville People¹s Congress president Joseph Kabui said the agreement was a sensible and practical one that "guarantees Bougainville's political future."
New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said his country would continue to support the peace process on Bougainville.
"He who bears witness today, also bears obligation. There is a collective obligation from all of us here to uphold this agreement until the strife that the PNG Government and Bougainville have endured for far too long becomes only a distant memory.
"As people of the Pacific we look forward to the completion of this process by the early ratification of this agreement by Parliament of PNG and the handing in of weapons."
The New Zealand Air Force lent an aircraft to transport people from Port Moresby to Arawa and back again after the signing.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who played a major part in the protracted peace process - alongside New Zealand's Don McKinnon - cancelled his attendance at the 11th hour due to the diplomatic impasse with Indonesia over boat people. "He is obviously disappointed that he can't attend," a spokesman for Downer said.
As it appeared, everything is looking very positive after the signing. This is because this deal is the first in 10 years, which has attempted to address the Bougainvilleans' autonomy, referendum and independence issues. However, the agreement had been signed without Francis Ona, the man who started the armed struggle, although the venue of the signing, Arawa, is just 25 kilometres from Ona's mountain hideout near Panguna in Central Bougainville, where the war began in 1999/89.
Ona, self-styled president of the "Republic of Meekamui", has steadfastly remained outside the 1997-2001 truce, ceasefire and peace negotiations. He still leads the Meekamui Defence Force and its band of armed guerillas controls perhaps one-fifth of the 300km-long island. But it is not known how much support Ona has.
But one thing is certain: Ona wanted nothing short of full independence for Bougainville. This has been echoed through the Bouganinville Revolutionary Army's Chief Ishmael Toroama at the signing of the agreement.
