T

he Manado General Elections Commission (KPUD) in North Sulawesi claimed on Wednesday that the city was ready to carry out its mayoral election on Feb. 17 following a two-month delay for administrative reasons.

KPUD head Jusuf Wowor said the institution had held a meeting with members of district election committees (PPK), ballot committees (PPS) and ballot organizing groups (KPPS) regarding preparations for the election.

'€œWe are sure that election supplies, such as ballot papers, are ready, but we are still sorting them as they arrived at the polling stations on Dec. 9, 2015,'€ he said.

In an effort to promote efficiency, the government scheduled simultaneous local elections (Pilkada) on Dec. 9 in 269 provinces, regencies and municipalities, representing half of all electoral regions in the country.

The KPU, however, decided at the last minute to postpone elections in five regions '€” Central Kalimantan, Fakfak regency in West Papua, Manado, and Pematangsiantar and Simalungun regencies in North Sumatra '€” following legal disputes over the nominations of certain candidates.

Earlier, the KPUD annulled the nomination of Jimmy Rimba Rogi and his running mate Bobby Daud because Jimmy, the city'€™s former mayor, was declared guilty in 2009 of embezzling Rp 68.8 billion (US$5.1 million) from the city'€™s budget.

Jimmy then filed a lawsuit at the state administrative high court, which then in turn ordered a postponement of the Manado Pilkada.