Autonomous Bougainville Government
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The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
The government was established in 2000 following a peace agreement between the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) a guerrilla movement.
The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Government shall consist of three branches:[1]
- Executive - the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville who chairs the Bougainville Executive Council
- Legislative - the Bougainville House of Representatives (39 elected members and 2 ex officio members).
- Judicial - the Bougainville Courts including a Supreme Court and High Court.
Elections for the first Autonomous Government were held in May and June 2005; Joseph Kabui was elected President, with Joseph Watawi selected by the House of Representatives as Vice-President.
The future
The ABG has declared that a referendum for independence from Papua New Guinea will be held in 2019.[2] This is in accordance with the terms of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, which requires such a referendum to be held by 2020.[3] Some are concerned that the referendum may result in violence due to unresolved tensions from the Bougainville Civil War.[4]
References
- ^ "The Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville" (PDF). abg.gov.pg/key-documents. Autonomous Bougainville Government. p. 28, S41.
- ^ "Target date set for Bougainville referendum". ABC News. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- ^ "Boungainville Peace Agreement" (PDF). abg.gov.pg/peace-agreement. Autonomous Bougainville Government. p. 1, S2.
- ^ Woodbury, Jo (2015). "The Bougainville independence referendum: Assessing the risks and challenges before, during and after the referendum" (PDF). defence.gov.au/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-29.
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