Theonila Roka Matbob. 5 July 2025 Photo: Facebook / Theonila Roka Matbob
Theonila Roka Matbob, one of the most prominent female candidates in the Bougainville election, has lost her seat.
Matbob, the member for Ioro in Central Bougainville - a region encompassing Panguna - was "very confident" of holding the seat despite being up against ten male candidates.
She was one of 34 women out of a field of more than 400 candiates contesting seats in the Bougainville House of Representatives.
In 2020, she was one of only two women to win an open seat.
Matbob was a vocal advocate who led a successful campaign to have Rio Tinto, a mining multi-national, to consider the damage caused by the mine it used to own.
She was at the forefront of the push for an assessment into the damage caused by the troubled Panguna gold mine - one of the world's largest copper and gold mines - in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region.
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"Yes i lost the seat to our new honorable leader. Whether people made their choice or not I dont need sugarcoating. I am happy I am home as a wife and mother and a organizations co-founder [sic]," Matbob wrote in a Facebook post.
"I am aware of all the messaging lines- me been anti-independence? A thief and all the mud slinging -typical of weak voices. The battle was clearly not for performance (frankly speaking my performance had physical coverage in the last 5 years-seen and tasted) but it was not enough. Its was clearly a battle of colorism. Phew I always we are better than this. It was a fight between certain excombatants and a woman [sic].
"I have evidence to pick a battle, I have lawyers to pick a case. But I dont fight for power i can only fight for justice [sic]."
She said Bougainville deserved truth and "not our biases", adding that "the state of power play has clearly deteriorated even before declaring independence."
Bougainville election office said due to logistical issues, counting began three days later than expected, on 12 September. Photo: Facebook / Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner - OBEC
The Bougainville election was held on Friday, 5 September, with over 239,000 registered voters set to cast their votes.
The polls were initially scheduled for 4 September but had to be rescheduled at the last minute to allow time for the dispatch of ballot papers.
Ahead of the polls, the elections chief Desmond Tsianai was adamant that Bougainville could achieve a one-day poll.
However, after a one-day delay, voting had to be extended to 6 September to allow all eligible voters the opportunity to cast their ballots.
Counting was also delayed by three days due to logistical issues. On Saturday, Tsianai announced that the date for the return of writs - originally scheduled for 22 September - was extended to 6 October.
