Provincial flags waved on independence day

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – As Papua New Guinea marks 41 years as an independent nation, there are many people who worry the nation is becoming more divided.

There appears to be a hardening of official attitudes to display of provincial loyalty.

Organisers of public gatherings have banned provincial flags as one province has just declared itself autonomous of the national government.

Selling flags has always been a big business in the lead up to PNG’s Independence Day, with everyone keen to show their pride during the celebrations.

Ken Bogove sells national flags and merchandise, while his competitors sell flags from PNG’s 22 provinces.

“The most popular ones are the national colour because it’s a national event,” he said.

“The provincial colours, we have a special day for each province.”

But the sale of flags has recently been causing controversy with many people buying the flags of their home provinces, and flying them instead of the national flag.

It has played into fears that regional and ethnic differences are causing violence and division in PNG, a nation with more than 800 languages and tribes.

The organisers of some Independence Day events have banned attendees from bringing provincial flags.

The national daily newspaper in PNG, the Post-Courier, has been campaigning for people to only wave the national colours.

“It seems to show a trend where Papua New Guineans want to connect more with their indigenous roots, rather than identify themselves as being part of a bigger nation-state called Papua New Guinea,” the newspaper’s chief editor Alexander Rheeney said.

The issue was highlighted by recent violence at a national rugby league semi-final, where supporters of a team from a highlands province attacked fans of a team from the New Guinea Islands region.

One man died after being injured in the riot. Rheeney said the behaviour was blamed on growing regional sentiments.

“There are some indications that that sort of interaction happened, and it does not augur well for the future of the country,” he said.

There has been a long-running debate about how well the national government looks after Papua New Guinea’s provinces.

Many feel they miss out on resources and attention, claiming it is focused on Port Moresby.

The New Ireland Province has just declared itself autonomous, meaning it wants legislative power and administrative functions devolved from the national Government.

Julius Chan, the Governor of New Ireland and former PNG prime minister, said while they had declared autonomy, they were not breaking away from the country.

“We are exercising our rights under the constitution to get more powers,” he said. “And so one would expect the national government to respond and I hope that we’ll find a common ground.”

The PNG Government has not responded to the declaration yet.

But Sir Julius said New Ireland was putting forward a more cooperative way of governing PNG’s geographically and ethnically disparate regions.

“We’re not breaking away,” he said. “We’re just wanting to adjust the system, maybe away a little bit away from the majority rule, to a federal system of government where we can have shared power.”

Back in Port Moresby, the flag sellers themselves are not aware of the controversy they have created.

Bogove said most of his customers wanted to celebrate as a nation. “We see that our country is united because we cooperate and we stay as one people,” he said.

“We know our provinces, but when it comes to our national day like this we come together as one people, we are very united.”

PNG has been independent for 41 years, but the debate continues as to how that independent state should function.

- ABC