Two women named as cabinet ministers in a first for Bougainville
Thomson Reuters Foundation The new President of Bougainville, an autonomous part of Papua New Guinea, appointed two female cabinet ministers on Friday, a rare move in a region where women are often sidelined in politics. Papua New Guinea is one of only three countries worldwide to have no female lawmakers, though Bougainville has made some […]
Record number of women candidates hope to make inroads in Bougainville polls
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation A record number of women candidates are contesting polls in the South Pacific archipelago of Bougainville this month, government officials and analysts said, hoping to build on a “milestone” election for women’s political representation in 2015. The general election is the first since Bougainville, which has a 250,000 population, voted […]
Bougainville’s youth pursue break from bloody past at presidential vote
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Young people in the South Pacific islands of Bougainville are seizing the opportunity to help reshape the future of the autonomous region of Papua New Guinea as they head to the polls this month to elect a new leader. The general election is the first since Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for independence from Papua […]
Updated: Bougainville overwhelmingly votes for independence from Papua New Guinea
Last update: 10:40am, 12th December, 2019Sydney, AustraliaReuters The South Pacific islands of Bougainville have overwhelmingly voted to be independent from Papua New Guinea, the referendum commission said on Wednesday, in a historic poll that will embolden separatists as they start negotiating the terms of their sovereignty. Almost 98 per cent of the 181,067 votes cast […]
Bougainville independence hopes rise as vote counting set to begin
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Bougainville began counting votes on Tuesday in its independence referendum, officials said, amid expectations for the South Pacific region once ravaged by fierce fighting to overwhelmingly back independence from Papua New Guinea. Results are expected to be released on Thursday after the non-binding vote, held from 23rd November to 7th December, under a […]
Amid singing and dancing, PNG’s Bougainville starts independence vote
Buka, Papua New GuineaReuters Amid singing, dancing and the beat of drums, John Momis, the president of Papua New Guinea’s region of Bougainville, was one of the first to cast his ballot early on Saturday in a referendum on whether to become the world’s newest nation. Voters in the island cluster at the heart of […]
“Never turning back”, Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville separatists expect vote for independence
Buka, Papua New GuineaReuters Twenty years after combatants snapped arrows to signal the end of hostilities in the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville, voters will on Saturday cast ballots in a long-awaited independence referendum. Prominent separatists say the independence movement cannot be stopped. “Bougainville is never turning back because we paid a very high […]