Autonomous Bougainville Government
# Autonomous Bougainville Government

The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG; Tok Pisin: Otonomos Bogenvil Gavman) is the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

## Structure

The Constitution of Bougainville specifies that the Autonomous Bougainville Government shall consist of three branches:

* Executive – the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, who chairs the Bougainville Executive Council
* Legislative – the Bougainville House of Representatives (39 elected members and 2 ex officio members).
* Judicial – the Bougainville Courts, including a Supreme Court and High Court.

## History

The government was established in 2000 following a peace agreement between the government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) a guerrilla movement.

Elections for the first autonomous government were held in May and June 2005; Joseph Kabui was elected president, with Joseph Watawi selected by the House of Representatives as vice-president.

A non-binding referendum for independence from Papua New Guinea was held in December 2019. This was in accordance with the terms of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, which requires such a referendum to be held by 2020. There were concerns that the referendum could result in violence due to unresolved tensions from the Bougainville conflict. In this referendum, 98% of voters voted in favour of independence.

Constitutional amendments proposed in February 2020, would see the Autonomous Bougainville Government renamed as the "Bougainville Constitutional Transitional Government".

