The journey of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement is into its final stages of processing as the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government today (03.12.25) agreed to the last lot of activities to undertake which will allow the 2019 referendum result to be taken to Parliament.
Prime Minister Hon. James Marape is optimistic this work should be completed in the first half of next year, 2026, and the referendum result taken to Parliament by the beginning of the second half of the year.
Prime Minister Marape and Bougainville President Hon. Ishmael Toroama today co-chaired the last Joint Supervisory Body meeting for 2025 in Port Moresby, attended by relevant cabinet ministers from both governments, where the leaders co-signed a joint resolution covering five agenda items in this matter.
PM Marape, addressing a joint-press conference after the gathering, said the meeting has set out a clear roadmap for the first six months of 2026 with agreement from both sides that a sessional order would be used to usher the result onto the floor of Parliament.
“We just completed a successful JSB meeting. We are in the final leg in which the referendum result will go to Parliament.
“We put a clear roadmap for the first six months of next year. A JSB meeting will be convened, possibly, around February. This will be assisted by findings from the bipartisan parliamentary committee, as well as the two speakers and respective clerks carrying the work forward for us.
“We have agreed that the sessional order will be used to usher the results onto the floor of Parliament.
“The technical specifications of the secessional order as well as what happens on the floor of Parliament will be defined properly in the next three months. We anticipate that before the first half of 2026 has lapsed, Parliament – possibly in the second sitting – would receive and deliberate on the result,” he said.
Prime Minister Marape once more reiterated the importance of dealing with the Bougainville issue and thanked the people of Bougainville for their patience while the 2001 Peace Agreement was going through its long, 24-year process, including the National Government’s handling of the 2019 referendum result and the upcoming ratification.
“Today, we are on the last leg. Section 342 (2) of the Constitution requires that the result be brought to the floor of Parliament, and this process is still running. Section 342 (1) provides for post referendum consultations; and the 2001 Peace Agreement says Parliament will ratify the result.
“I want to thank Bougainville leaders and people – fear not, whatever hap- pens. To the rest of the country, let us embrace this process as it is a must-do process that cannot be avoided,” he said.
Prime Minister Marape also retraced the steps in the Bougainville Peace process during his time as Prime Minister when the 2019 referendum was held.
“We went through many phases of negotiation and consultation. We exercised the Constitutional requirement of post-referendum consultations that was made.
“After the referendum, we had a JSB meeting in Kokopo and in Wabag, and in Port Moresby which led to the Era Kone Covenant. We had a meeting in Burnham, New Zealand – assisted by the United Nations through moderator, Sir Jerry Mateparae – which culminated in the Melanesian Agreement.
“Part of the Melanesian Agreement of Burnham called for the establishment of a bipartisan committee to help shepherd the process into Parliament. This bi- partisan parliamentary committee is chaired by Hon. Dr. Allan Marat and comprises three members from the Opposition and five from Government.”
The JSB meeting today also resolved for the United Nations to continue its support to the Bougainville Peace process by availing a facilitator to work with the committee in the coming months to take the result to Parliament.