Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Papua and Mimika have been categorized as two among 171 regions participating in the 2018 regional elections that are most prone to security disruptions.
"In the provincial election category, Papua is considered the most vulnerable, followed by Maluku and West Kalimantan," said Papua Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Peggy Wattimena in Jayapura on Tuesday.
"In the regency election category, Mimika is the most vulnerable regency, followed by Paniai and Jayawijaya. Both are in Papua province," she went on.
Friets Edward Siregar, from the Bawaslu headquarters in Jakarta, said three indicators had been used to measure the vulnerability level of a region in the 2018 election.
"They are the condition of contestation in those regions, the implementation of elections in the previous years and voter participation in previous elections," he said.
"The vulnerability is closely related to whether candidates had prioritized programs or just highlighted ethnic sentiments in their campaigns in the previous elections, to whether the election organizers had violated ethics and to whether the elections were marred with turmoil," he added.
Friets further said in the 2017 regional elections, out of a total 11 participating regencies and municipalities, only one region had no dispute that had to be settled at the Constitutional Court.
Unrest in last year's elections resulted in 11 deaths, 77 injured victims, and the several offices being burned down.
Meanwhile, the Papua Police categorized four regions in the Pegunungan Tengah region, namely Puncak, Deiyai, Paniai and Mimika, as most prone to turmoil in 2018 because many armed groups reside in those areas. (nmn/ebf)