The Autonomous Region of Bougainville's recent polls have handed its re-elected president a fresh mandate to pursue independence from Papua New Guinea.
President Ishmael Toroama shared his vision ahead of the first 100 days back in office during the swearing-in process of the fifth Bougainville parliament.
The House of Representatives of Bougainville was first established in 2005 under the region's constitution, where its elected members are also sworn into the PNG's national parliament - though they are not permitted to introduce motions or to vote on legislation matters inside the Port Moresby house.
In addition to the current 45 members that gained seats through a Bougainville election run-off, Mr Toroama won a separate ballot across September 5 and 6 to be the region's president for a second straight term.
"In my victory speech in 2020, I said the winds of change have arrived," Mr Toroama reiterated during his inaugural parliamentary statement on Friday.
"That we the Bougainvilleans must be the winds of change.
"No one else will create a better future for us but ourselves."
The Bougainville People's Alliance Party leader said the statement remains true five years on that "we must desire the need for change at all levels of society and move forward towards a better Bougainville".
The general elections were held two years before a proposed September 2027 date for independence.
Seven presidential candidates, included three running on independent tickets, had stood on a pro-independence platform while agreeing for a more conciliatory tone from the elected region's parliament.
The president won more than 90,000 votes in a landslide victory from Bougainville's 238,000 registered voters.
Mr Toroama's closest competitor, one-time New Bougainville party parliamentary member Joe Lera, received a little more than 17,000 votes.
Nearly 98 per cent of Bougainville's residents voted for independence during a non-binding, 2019 referendum that the PNG parliament has yet to fully endorse and ratify.
The ongoing delays towards Bougainville's sovereignty, despite the PNG parliament signalling intentions to grant the island's region the right to break away from the country, remain a concern.
The independence referendum was a result of a 2001 agreement between the PNG government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government that ended a civil law from 1988 until 1998.
Mr Toroama, who joined the Bougainville Revolutionary Army in the region's civil war to gain full independence, was one of the key signatories of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
He also opposed a rival breakaway faction among the independence movement and was an important broker in the reconciliation process.
"There is plenty to do as we position ourselves to be a sovereign nation," Toroama insisted.
But the peace agreement also does not guarantee independence will be delivered to Bougainville, despite the overwhelming referendum result.
Mr Toroama shared a large list of points on his agenda that included the goal of a clear framework and timeline for implementing the Melanesian Agreement, and a draft sessional order for taking the vote for independence into the PNG parliament.
"Many of these priorities are not new because the need has been with us for a few years," he said.
Mr Toroama also thanked the people of Bougainville "for your confidence in my leadership in pursuing our common agendas of independence, economy and good governance".
He also acknowledged the Bougainville Electoral Commission that international monitors had scrutinised for conducting "a free and fair election".
The parliamentary opening was attended by PNG prime minister James Marape, the PNG Chief Justice, Justice Salika, and other PNG leaders and government officials.
