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Commonwealth Experts for Bougainville Elections

19 May 2005

View of Bougainville from the sea
Bougainville, a province of Papua New Guinea, has an Autonomous Government.
Commonwealth experts will be present for the elections for the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Papua New Guinea, which begin on 20 May 2005. The experts -- Howard Cayenne, Chief Election Officer of Trinidad and Tobago; Juliet Solomon, Special Adviser, Political Affairs Division (PAD), Commonwealth Secretariat; and Albert Mariner, Political Adviser, PAD -- started work on 16 May 2005. 

The Commonwealth experts, appointed by Secretary-General Don McKinnon, will join three experts appointed by the Pacific Islands Forum and two by New Zealand to form an Expert Team. Ratu Epeli Nalaitikau, Speaker of the Parliament of Fiji Islands, has been invited to lead the Team. The New Zealand Agency for International Development has provided financial support to cover the cost of the Expert Team.
 
Australia and Japan have also been invited to send observers and the Team will work closely with them as part of the overall international observation effort in Bougainville. The United Nations will provide logistical assistance and will co-ordinate briefings and security arrangements.
 
The experts will be briefed by the representatives of the election management bodies, the candidates and civil society organisations. They will observe preparations for the elections, the polling, counting and results process and the overall electoral environment. 

The decision to send the Commonwealth experts follows an invitation from the Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea in April 2005.  

Members of the Expert Team will submit a report to the Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum. The Secretaries-General will in turn send the Team's report to the Government of Papua New Guinea, the Autonomous Bougainville Government, the election authorities and governments which are members of the Commonwealth and the Forum. It will then be made public. The members of the Expert Team have been invited in their individual capacities and the views they express regarding the elections will be their own and not those either of their respective governments or of the Commonwealth Secretariat.  

The Constitution of Bougainville was formally adopted on 14 January 2005. These are the first elections for the Autonomous Bougainville Government, as provided for in the Constitution.

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 235, 18 May 2005

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