Bougainville s President Ishmael Toroama has called for the autonomous Papua New Guinea region to be given independence by 2025.
Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama arrives with his delegation for talks with Papua New Guinea s government in East New Britain, 16 May 2021.
Photo: Autonomous Bougainville Government
Toroama gave the message at talks between his autonomous regional government and PNG s national governments, being held in Kokopo, East New Britain.
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.