Papua New Guinea

John Momis

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P
Focus Area(s)
Balancing the Central and Local
Ref Batch Number
3
Country of Reform
Papua New Guinea
Interviewers
Matthew Devlin
Name
John Momis
Interviewee's Position
Career Politician
Interviewee's Organization
Papua New Guinea
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Papua New Guinean
Town/City
Buka
Country
Papua New Guinea
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
decentralization
provincial government
financial decentralization
secession
intergovernmental relations
Papua New Guinea
Bougainville
Abstract
John Momis talks about his experience as one of the leading politicians from Papua New Guinea’s island province of Bougainville. He recalls the debate over decentralization in the 1970s and explains why Bougainvilleans emerged as the most vocal advocates of a sweeping devolution of powers away from the central government. He recounts the sense of frustration that led to Bougainville’s 1975 secession and the subsequent negotiations that brought the island back into PNG and led to the 1977 law establishing provincial governments. He talks about the problems that began to emerge under the decentralized system during the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as strained intergovernmental relations and an ill-coordinated transfer of administrative responsibilities.
 
Transcript
John_Momis.pdf
John_Momis.txt
Profile

 

John Momis was one of the leading politicians representing the island province of Bougainville during the first decades of Papua New Guinea’s independence and has regularly been credited as the central ideologue of decentralization in the country. A Catholic priest at the time, he was elected to the national Parliament for Bougainville in 1972 and was appointed chairman of parliamentary committees and de facto chair of the Constitutional Planning Committee by then-Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. From his position on the committee, he exercised great influence over the formulation of PNG’s constitution and was a fervent proponent of a decentralized system of government. He broke with the national government in 1975 as Bougainville, dissatisfied with the degree of autonomy granted it, issued a unilateral declaration of independence. However, in 1976 he played an instrumental role in reconciling the island with the Port Moresby government. In 1977 he was appointed minister for decentralization. Except for a brief hiatus as minister for minerals and energy in 1980, he held the decentralization portfolio until 1982. As minister for decentralization, he was responsible for increasing governmental capacity at the provincial level and overseeing the central ministries’ implementation of the decentralization policy. In 1985 he served as deputy prime minister and in 1988 he was appointed minister for provincial affairs. At the time of this interview, he had just returned from his position as Papua New Guinea’s ambassador to China and was running for president of Bougainville in the 2010 elections. He won that vote.

 

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
89MB
Full Audio Title
John Momis

Alphonse Gelu

Ref Batch
P
Focus Area(s)
Balancing the Central and Local
Ref Batch Number
8
Country of Reform
Papua New Guinea
Interviewers
Rohan Mukherjee
Name
Alphonse Gelu
Interviewee's Position
Senior Research Fellow
Interviewee's Organization
National Research Institute
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Papua New Guinean
Town/City
Port Moresby
Country
Papua New Guinea
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
autonomy
Papua New Guinea
decentralization
Abstract

Alphonse Gelu talks about decentralization in Papua New Guinea first from a historical perspective and then from a more current perspective. He discusses the various issues that motivated decentralization in the 1970s and subsequently that motivated that national government to take back the power given to provincial governments through a significant reform effort in 1995. Gelu concludes that decentralization and its reform have not really had much of an impact on the lives of ordinary citizens in PNG, especially in remote areas where the central government remained as distant in 2010 as it was when the country achieved independence in 1975.   

Case Study:  Provincial Secessionists and Decentralization: Papua New Guinea, 1985-1995

Transcript
Alphonse_Gelu.pdf
Alphonse_Gelu.txt
Headshot
alphonse_gelu.jpg
Profile

At the time of this interview, Alphonse Gelu was a senior research fellow at the National Research Institute, a government think tank in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Educated at the University of Papua New Guinea, Ohio University in the United States, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand, Gelu studied PNG politics since the 1990s.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
77MB
Full Audio Title
A;phonse Gelu Interview

Julius Chan

Ref Batch
P
Focus Area(s)
Balancing the Central and Local
Ref Batch Number
10
Country of Reform
Papua New Guinea
Interviewers
Rohan Mukherjee and Matthew Devlin
Name
Julius Chan
Interviewee's Position
Former Prime Minister
Interviewee's Organization
Papua New Guinea
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Papua New Guinean
Town/City
Port Moresby
Country
Papua New Guinea
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
decentralization
Papua New Guinea
secession
Abstract
Sir Julius Chan talks about the early years of decentralization following Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975. In his capacity as finance minister in the years that followed independence, Chan was unsure of the ability of provincial governments to successfully manage the autonomy given to them by decentralization. He gradually grew concerned about the inability of provincial governments to deliver services at the local level. When he became deputy prime minister in 1992, Chan assisted Prime Minister Paias Wingti in his attempt to reform the provincial government system. Chan himself became prime minister in 1994 and completed the reform effort despite threats of secession from provincial leaders in island provinces who opposed the reform.
 
Transcript
P10_GT_RM Chan_Final.pdf
P10_GT_RM Chan_Final.txt
Headshot
julius_chan.jpg
Profile

At the time of this interview, Sir Julius Chan was the governor of New Ireland province and a member of the national Parliament in Papua New Guinea. He was prime minister from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. Chan was a national politician even before PNG’s independence in 1975. Over the years he was repeatedly re-elected to Parliament and held a number of cabinet positions such as finance, industry, external affairs and trade, and also was deputy prime minister. Chan was deputy prime minister in the 1992 government of Paias Wingti that actively pursued a reformist agenda on decentralization. He became prime minister in 1994 and championed the Organic Law on Provincial Government and Local Level Government, which was passed in 1995. Chan lost the 1997 national elections and remained out of politics for a decade, returning in 2007 as a member of Parliament and governor of New Ireland province.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
99MB
Full Audio Title
Sir Julius Chan Interview