POST
OPERATION BEL ISI
The AusAID funded Bougainville Transition
Team (BTT) comprised approx. 17 unarmed civilian personnel from
Australia, New Zealand Fiji and Vanuatu and was deployed
1 July 2003 to further advance the peace process following the
withdrawal of the Peace Monitoring Group (PMG).
The BTT was divided into two
parts: one section was
responsible for policy work, namely carrying out the mandate of
the
BTT, and the other section was responsible for logistics. Of the
nine personnel responsible for policy
work, four were Australian (two from DFAT and two from AusAID),
three
were from New Zealand, one each from Fiji and Vanuatu.
On 21 December 2004, an agreed Constitution
for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville was gazetted by the PNG
Government, paving the way for elections for the establishment
of autonomous government. The Constitution allows for 33 directly
elected members, a President, a Speaker, three women's representatives,
and three ex-combatant representatives.
In May 2005, the UN Observer Mission
on Bougainville (UNOMB) declared the weapons disposal program complete
and verified the situation on Bougainville as being conducive to
holding elections.
The UN sponsored election, which
took place from 20 May to 2 June 2005, was a momentous event in
the long process of establishing and consolidating a permanent
peace on Bougainville. The report of an International Election
Observer Mission – invited by the PNG Government
and Bougainvillean leaders to observe the election – concluded
that the election was competently and transparently conducted in
all key respects. Three Australians participated in the Observer
Mission, including Andrew Laming MP, Member for Bowman.
The first Bougainville President,
Joseph Kabui, and 39 members of the Autonomous Bougainville Government
were sworn into office on 15 June 2005 in a ceremony in Buka.
The
new government has wide powers over local administration, with
Port Moresby maintaining control over foreign affairs and defence
matters.
UNOMB's mandate expired on 30 June
2005.
References:
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/png/bougainville/
http://www.aph.gov.au/House/committee/jsct/august2003/report/chapt6.pdf
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/hottopics/topic.cfm?ID=2416_9105_9504_835_7979
