Former NZ Governor General Appointed to Troubleshoot Pacific Island’s Path to Independence

Nearly five years after 97 percent of the roughly 300,000 residents of Bougainville voted for independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG), little progress has been made in implementing their will. For that to happen, the referendum result requires ratification by the PNG Parliament, and there appears to be little appetite for doing so. The small island (though the largest in the Solomon Islands archipelago) is officially an autonomous region, consisting of the eponymous island plus Buka Island—home to the capital, Buka—and several outlying islands and atolls. During the colonial era, the region was occupied and administered by Germany, Australia, Japan, and the United States for various periods until becoming part of the newly formed Papua New Guinea in 1976....