His Excellency President Ishmael Toroama reaffirmed Bougainville’s unwavering stance on independence at the first Joint Consultation Moderator Meeting on Monday, urging Papua New Guinea’s National Government to endorse the Bougainville referendum results. He emphasized that the path to independence is guided by the Wabag Roadmap and the Era Kone Covenant, setting 1st September 2027 as the target date for Bougainville’s independence. “Bougainville’s agenda is independence, and in our post-referendum consultations, we have made this clear. The referendum results must be honored," He added. He said the Bougainville Peace Agreement is a political settlement that has three pillars. - Weapons Disposal, - Autonomy, and - Referendum. “Out of the three pillars, the Referendum pillar was the key pillar that held the commitment of all Bougainvilleans to the peace process, by guaranteeing in the National Constitution, a choice of separate independence for Bougainville. The definition of independence was defined by the Government of PNG as, ‘An independent nation state with sovereign powers and laws, recognized under international law and by other sovereign states to be an independent state, separate from the State of Papua New Guinea.’ The people voted for independence and to propose any other option in this moderation is detrimental to the peace process,” President Toroama said. He stated that everyone knows Papua New Guinea is going to celebrate its 50 years independence anniversary and in the case of Bougainville, this marks more than 50 years of struggle for independence within Papua New Guinea. “It is important to remember that Bougainville leaders have lobbied for Bougainville’s Independence well before PNG’s Independence without any recognition from international bodies. As far as my concerned, the process of negotiating independence was concluded with the referendum. My understanding is that this moderation is about reaching agreement on implementing the referendum result of independence. Therefore, my focus in this moderation is to define the new relationship between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea as two independent sovereign states. This relationship can be captured through an independence package for Bougainville. Bougainville has done its part in this peace process. It is now your turn,” he concluded.