The Bougainville Referendum Commission, or BRC, the agency preparing the region for the referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea, believes it’s making good progress.
The governments of both PNG and Bougainville are shortly expected to formally announce a postponement of the vote, which had been due to start on October 12th, after being moved earlier from June.
Another six-week delay has been accepted but a new date is yet to be announced.
Last week's summit of former combatants formally agreed to support such a move but also said the vote must occur by November 30th at the latest.
The chief referendum officer, Mauricio Claudio spoke to Don Wiseman and says he feels the BRC has 'raised the bar' when it comes to electoral roll enrolment.
A tentative date of June 15th 2019 has been set for a referendum on possible independence in the Autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
