Papua regency braces for election campaign

Wed, 04/30/2008 1:10 PM  |  The Archipelago

TIMIKA, Papua: Entering the campaign period for the Mimika regent election, the four candidates were asked to help prevent clashes among their supporters.

An assistant to the regent, Marthen Giay, said the contestants and their campaign teams should control their supporters to avoid violence in the regency, which is home to thousands of people from different ethnic groups working at copper and gold mining company PT Freeport Indonesia.

"We know the regency is quite prone to sectarian and tribal conflicts and therefore all regent hopefuls have to effectively avoid conflicts during the political campaign," he said.

The local government has allocated Rp 14 billion for the election, with the main aim of holding a peaceful poll, he said.

"Candidates and their supporters should avoid intimidation, threats, provocation and anything that could endanger" the election, he said.

Voting will take place May 19. --JP

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