http://dev.postcourier.com.pg/kids-place/#.VPiVcnyG8rU
President upbeat on referendum
The conditions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement can and will be met by Bougainville within the next five years as a prelude to its referendum.
Autonomous Bougainville Government President John Momis made this bold statement in reference to Bougainville’s referendum that must be held within the five year time period of 2015-2020.
The conditions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement are good governance, fiscal self-reliance and weapons disposal.
“We must not fear, we must have faith in each other and ultimately of course we must have faith in God to give us the wisdom and strength to prevail,” Mr Momis said.
“We have now reached a critical juncture on our journey to freedom where we stand at the threshold of a new socio-economic, political and spiritual order.”
He said this new future means Bougainvilleans will want to be liberated from structural impediments, from institutional impediments and become agents of change and development and also become the subjects and objects of these changes.
“We know for a fact for example that the people of Bougainville for a long time have always seen themselves as a people set apart from the rest of PNG,” he said.
“Consistently over a period of time the people have always demanded to have a referendum to determine whether Bougainville was to remain a part of PNG, join with the Solomon Islands or become an entirely Independent nation on its own.
“So when you look at the history of Bougainvilleans, Bougainvilleans definitely had a history, we have a history of rejecting outside imposition, a history of being proud of our heritage and a history of self-determination.
“This is in line with the fact that man is by nature a self-determining animal, man being a rational is endowed with the intellect and the will that enables him to asses, analyze and make informed decisions his future.”
He said self-determination is not a dirty word for the people of Bougainville.
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