Skate puts Bougainville peace at risk

By Norm Dixon

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Bill Skate, speaking on Australian television on March 31, has placed the Bougainville peace process at risk. Skate told the SBS Dateline program that Bougainville is an integral part of PNG and ruled out the complete withdrawal of PNG troops from the island. He said he would fail in his duty as prime minister if he allowed Bougainville to decide its own fate.

“They know my position. Independence is non-negotiable with me or, for that matter, the people of PNG”, Skate said.

While conceding that the peace agreement signed in January between Port Moresby and the independence movement called for the “phased withdrawal” of PNG troops, he denied that this entailed a complete withdrawal.

The vice-president of the pro-independence Bougainville Interim Government, Joseph Kabui, described Skate's statements as “blatant reneging of his commitment in the Lincoln Agreement.

“Bougainville now fears that Mr Skate could be contemplating moving away from the agreement. This is exactly the position that former prime minister Sir Julius Chan adopted before and after the signing of the cease-fire in 1994 that led to the failure of the 1994 peace talks.”

Kabui referred to the decision by the New Zealand government to hand leadership of the Truce Monitoring Group to Australia. “I strongly call on the Australian government to adhere to its policy on Bougainville -- that it is not going to be `prescriptive' and that the conflict cannot be resolved militarily, but only through a `political settlement'”, Kabui said.

Kabui also warned that a recent arrangement between PNG and Indonesia for joint training and the purchase of military equipment “has sent shock waves throughout Bougainville. The only war that PNG is fighting is on Bougainville.”

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