Bougainville not ready to hold elections by
end of 2004
UN News Centre, 5 October 2004
Bougainville not ready to hold elections by end of 2004, UN report says
5 October 2004
Although major progress has been made in the peace process in
Bougainville in recent months, the province of Papua New Guinea is not
expected to hold elections by the end of the year as planned,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report on the United Nations
mission there.
"Both the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville
leaders remain firm in their commitment to complete the process as soon as
possible," Mr. Annan says in his report to the Security Council on the
UN Observer Mission in Bougainville (UNOMB).
In the meantime, UNOMB will continue to be required to chair the
committee dealing with the peace process - since it is the only mechanism
available for links between the Government and the Bougainville parties -
and to help in preparations for the elections.
There is concern, he says, that a premature closure of the Mission could
have a negative impact on the peace process as it enters the critical
months ahead. The Council had extended UNOMB's mandate in July for a
final time through 31 December with the expectation that elections would be
held by then.
The Secretary-General says the Mission will continue to support the
efforts of the national Government and the Bougainville leaders to move the
peace process forward in the remaining period of its current mandate.
"Hopefully, when the Council considers this matter later this year,
the parties will be in a position to provide it with a firm date for the
holding of elections for the establishment of an autonomous government in
Bougainville," he says.
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