FILE PHOTO: Residents hold a Bougainville flag at a polling station during a non-binding independence referendum in Arawa, on the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Melvin Levongo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama has been elected as president of Bougainville, an autonomous region in the South Pacific, electoral officials said on Wednesday, and is set to lead talks seeking independence from Papua New Guinea.
The general election was the first since Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for a separation from Papua New Guinea at the end of last year, with Toroama defeating an open field, the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner said.
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