The Ombudsman Commission has appealed to the Bougainville House of Representatives to strictly observe and follow the processes and procedures that are set out by the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2004 when proposing amendments to the Bougainville Constitution.
This is in light of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG)’s proposal:
- to amend Section 89 of the Bougainville Constitution to allow for the extension of the term of the President of the Bougainville House of Representatives for more than two occasions,
- an amendment to the provision of the Bougainville Constitution which provides for the establishment of three seats for former combatants and
- a proposal to change the name of the Bougainville Government the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) to Bougainville Constitutional Government (BCTG)
The Ombudsman Commission emphasised that Section 300 of the Papua New Guinea Constitution in accordance with the Bougainville Constitution form part of the laws of Papua New Guinea. The Bougainville House of Representatives therefore must strictly observe and follow the processes and procedures that are set out by the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2004.
The Commission’s advice to governmental bodies/agencies and the Bougainville House of Representative for this matter is compliance with the Ombudsman Commission’s purposes under Section 218(a) of the Constitution which is to ensure that all government bodies are responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
In fulfilling its purpose, under Section 218(a) of the Constitution the Ombudsman urges that the Bougainville House of Representatives fully comply with the processes and procedures stipulated under Section 345 of the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and Section 219 of the Constitution of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville 2004.
This is to ensure that there is coherent and smooth flow of constitutional amendments as required by the law and to avoid the Autonomous Bougainville Government from facing difficulties in future in trying to rectify constitutional breaches.