Will Bougainville become independent? The 207,000 voters of this island of Papua New Guinea began Saturday, November 23 to vote to decide the future of their territory rich in copper independence or simple autonomy strengthened, after years of secessionist revolt deadly.
At least a thousand people gathered at the opening of the consultation in Buka, the main city of the region, in an electric atmosphere, fueled by the hope for some to become the youngest state in the world.
The results of this election, which will last two weeks, are not expected before mid-December. A victory for the supporters of independence seems predictable, but without reliable polls, the proponents of maintaining the island in Papua New Guinea can not be ruled out.
A pro-independence vote is yet to be ratified by the Papua Parliament, which fears a contagion effect in a country of very great ethnic diversity.
This referendum is expected to finally turn the page on a decade of armed conflict that had killed 20,000 people before the 1998 ceasefire.
New challenge of influence struggle between regional powers
The preparations for the ballot were calm. In recent weeks, former members of both sides have participated in ceremonies in which arrows have been broken as a sign of reconciliation.
"We do not often hear stories of people who lay down their arms, reconcile and seek peace," said Saturday the referendum poll official, Mauricio Claudio, after the first day of voting.
The island, which owes its name to the French navigator Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), who explored it in 1768, is among the poorest territories in the southern hemisphere.
In case of independence, Bougainville could then become a new issue of the influence struggle between regional powers in the Pacific, including China and Australia.
With AFP