7. John Momis
John Momis is a politician and elected President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. Momis was sworn in as President of Bougainville on June 10, 2010 for a five-year term. He defeated his predecessor, President James Tanis, and five other challengers by a landslide in the 2010 presidential election, in which he was a candidate of the New Bougainville Party.
He was reelected for a second period (2015-2020), in the general elections in May 2015. Momis served as a Catholic priest from 1970 until 1993, becoming active in politics and elected to the assembly in the 1970s.
He was a co-writer of the Constitution of Papua New Guinea and worked to establish a secessionist organization in what was then North Solomons Province. After it was confirmed as a province, he returned to national politics.
Following the end of the civil war, he was appointed as the Governor of Bougainville from 1999 until 2005. He was Papua New Guinea’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.