By ALOYSIUS LAUKAI AUTONOMOUS Bougainville Government president James Tanis yesterday appointed his deputy, Ezekiel Massat, amid pressures from both Central and North Bougainville regions for their members to be appointed. Mr Massat was the former police minister and now takes over from the former deputy and acting president, John Tabinaman. He was immediately sworn in by senior magistrate Bruce Tasikul yesterday afternoon at the House of Representative. The appointment puts an end to intensive lobbying from interested parties in the region. The first call came from Central Bougainville leaders during the inauguration ceremony in Arawa, and was repeated at Marai near Panguna the next day. In Buka, many leaders called for the deputy to be from the North, some even giving the names of their candidate. Mr Massat is the member for Tonsu constituency on Buka Island, and is a lawyer by profession. Meanwhile, the ABG will vote for its speaker today, the seat was left vacant when Nick Peniai resigned to contest the presidential by-election at the end of last year. The Bougainville constitution requires that the speaker must be an outsider. Mr Tanis also has to appoint a new team of ministers for the remaining term of the ABG Parliament, which ends next June. Writs for the general election will be issued next April.
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