BOUGAINVILLE REFERENDUM RESULTS TO NOW PROCEED TO PARLIAMENT

BY NIGEL MADO

PRIME Minister James Marape says the Bougainville independence referendum result will now proceed into the final stages of the National Parliament process following the final Joint Supervisory Body meeting between the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government today.

Speaking this morning , he described the meeting as a historic landmark, saying the Bougainville agenda would leave the joint space of the two governments after the JSB meet and enter the National Parliament.

He said the JSB had prepared the necessary report and instruments for the result to be taken to Parliament.

Marape said the National Parliament would now have to undertake its constitutional role in determining the next step in the Bougainville process.

The Prime Minister urged both sides and the people of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville to respect the parliamentary process as the country enters the final leg of the journey that began with the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, acknowledging President Ishmael Toroama and the ABG leadership for their role in the peace process and thanked international partners, including the United Nations, for their support.