By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist
Elizabeth Tako Palin is one of five women contesting the Bougainville North women’s reserved seat next month.
It was previously held by Amanda Masono, who has chosen to contest the open Atolls seat, which was once held by her father.
The autonomous Papua New Guinea region is holding a single-day poll on 4 September to elect a new 46-member House.
A record 34 women are standing, including 14 in the three seats reserved for women.
Former teacher Palin ran in 2020 and has wide political experience at the local level.
She spoke with RNZ Pacific.
(This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Elizabeth Palin: I was a former chair lady in the local level government, community government, and I just resigned to contest the seat. I served in the community government and at the ward assembly system for 10 years. But prior to that I was a teacher by profession,
Don Wiseman: Being in the local level government. Is that a full time activity, is it for you?
EP: It is, yes.
DW: What does it involve?
EP: It involves chairing the local level government at the community base level, and also taking care of the five wards within the respective community government that I’m heading.
And, formally, in the first establishment of the first House of Assembly, I was the vice-chair lady. So as one of the ward members in the five wards under the urban council, urban community government. I contested the fourth House and I came second. I came back to be with the community, and then I worked with the people.
I went contested [a second election] and I became the ward member and also lobbied for the chair position, and I became the chairperson.
DW: So you want to be in the ABG [Autonomous Bougainville Government]. What is it you want to achieve there?
EP: Being in the local level government, I have experienced a lot where we do not see the link. We do not really see that link from the top level of leadership down to the local level. We do not really feel it in some sense.
Therefore, I decided that maybe I can be able to contest and get that leadership, and in experiencing my leadership at the ward level and community government level, I believe that I can be able to take that leadership and build that link from the top down to the ward assembly level, which includes the community government and vice versa, from the community government up to the top.
This is what I experienced, and that is the main reason why I am contesting the seat. Also, I believe in my leadership because I have been with the local level government, and I believe I can perform at a much higher level as well.
DW: Yes, well, you will have been campaigning now for weeks, because it’s such a long period of campaigning, isn’t it? How are people reacting to you?
EP: Oh, I have been receiving positive responses from the people, from the voters, in terms of the way I present my campaign strategy, my platform, especially.
I have so far received very positive response from the general public and the voters in the region, and from all the locations that I have conducted my campaign.
DW: Yes, I wouldn’t expect a politician to say anything else going into an election. Independence for Bougainville is, it would seem, very close. How important is it to you that it’s sorted sooner rather than later?
EP: Being a leader, a woman leader in having gone through my people’s experience in terms of fighting for their rights and for their independence, this coming independence, and what we we have been standing for as our political agenda is very, very crucial to me as with the general population of Bougainville.
I cannot say no to that. I do understand a lot of work to do in terms of getting us prepared, in terms of demonstrating the indications and so forth, that we are able to get independence and we are independently ready. But based on the fights of our forefathers and our people and having lost the 20,000 lives, I stand for that.
I believe that such a person like me, a woman with a strong voice at the political scene, in the political scene and level, I can be able to work as a team with the other leaders of Bougainville to get that independence.
But having said that, it does not really mean that that is it. We are ready. As leaders, on the ground and at the different levels of governance, we need to work, and we have this how many years that have been given within the time frame for us to work in order to show that we’re able to be an independent, sovereign state, and that is what I believe in.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
