Bougainville's President Ishmael Toroama has called for his autonomous Papua New Guinea region to have self-government in place by next year.
PNG's prime minister James Marape (right) shakes hands with Ishmael Toroama, the president of the autonomous region of Bougainville, 5 February 2021. Photo: PNG PM Media
Toroama said this was part of the message he gave to PNG's Prime Minister, James Marape, during talks last month.
The talks were the latest step in consultations between the two sides over how to proceed with the result of Bougainville's independence referendum, held in 2019.
In the non-binding referendum, 97.7 percent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence from PNG. However PNG's parliament must ratify the result for it to come into effect.
In the talks, Toroama told Marape and his delegation that Bougainville should be given independence by 2025.
While PNG is reluctant to commit to a timetable towards independence, Bougainville's autonomous government is focussed on giving momentum to the region's independence readiness preparations.
In the interim, Toroama is pushing for self-government as a practical step towards full independence.
Toroama spent last week in South Bougainville to launch what the government is calling the 'Independence Ready Mission' for three constituencies.
At events in the Lato, Ramu and Kopi constituencies, the president outlined his government's timeline.
President Toroama said the road would be difficult but the referendum results had clearly shown the people's desire to be an independent sovereign nation.
He urged unity, hard work and perseverence by the people to achieve Bougainville's political destiny.