Ex-rebel leader Ishmael Toroama elected new Bougainville president

Pressure will mount on PNG to allow Bougainville to break away as an independent nation after Ishmael Toroama’s election.

Ishmael Toroama has been declared the president-elect in Bougainville.

Pressure will mount on Papua New Guinea to allow Bougainville to break away as an independent nation after the election of former rebel leader Ishmael Toroama as president of the autonomous region.

The former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander was confirmed on Tuesday morning as the winner of the presidential ballot with 49,696 votes – about 10,000 more than the required absolute majority.

Mr Toroama, whose body is heavily scarred from wounds sustained in the decade-long Bougainville conflict, campaigned on a platform of “real independence” for the autonomous region.

After voting closed earlier this month, he declared, “God will … unleash the strength for our countrymen to nation-build because that time has come – we are on our way“.

The election follows last year’s Bougainville independence referendum, in which the region’s people voted overwhelmingly to split from PNG.

But the vote was non-binding, and must be ratified by PNG’s parliament to take effect.

The Lowy Institute‘s Shane McLeod said the former rebel’s election as president was “another sign of how strong the movement is to achieve independence”.

“Toroama’s strong result gives him a powerful negotiating position with the PNG government,“ Mr McLeod said.

An independent Bougainville will likely pose challenges for Canberra, because it has almost no sources of revenue and could become a target for Chinese money and influence operations.

There are concerns in Canberra, Waigani and Jakarta that an independent Bougainville could further destabilise the region, inspiring other PNG provinces to seek independence, and fuelling unrest in West Papua.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape congratulated Mr Toroama on his election.

“I look forward to working with president-elect Toroama in progressing consultations on the outcome of the recent referendum and securing long term economic development and a lasting peace for the people of Bougainville,” Mr Marape said.

Less than a third of Bougainville MPs retained their seats in the election, reflecting voter anger with how the region was being run, Mr McLeod said.

“Issues like corruption and law and order are big concerns, and you see that frustration in the high turnover of MPs, and a lot of younger members among those newly elected,” he said.