T

he Papua General Elections Commission (KPU) will retain the noken system in the upcoming regional elections in the province’s six regencies and cities in February.

The six regencies are Puncak Jaya, Tolikara, Intan Jaya, Nduga, Dogiya and Lanny Jaya. The system will be used in all districts except where the capitals of respective regencies are located.

However, the Papua KPU has adjusted the procedure in the noken system to comply with regulations, Papua KPU commissioner Beatrix Wanane said on Thursday.

Previously, in the noken system, individual voters did not go to polling stations to vote. Instead, tribal leaders visited poll stations and lodged one vote to represent every member of his respective community. Ballots were placed in a noken, a traditional Papuan woven bag.

Before the tribal leader voted, the respective community held a meeting to reach a consensus on which candidate to vote for.

“We will issue a module as a guideline. We need to comply with election regulations that every eligible person who wants to vote must come himself or herself to the polling station,” Beatrix said.

She denied that the module would affect local values in the system.

“The module does not eliminate the noken system. People can discuss which candidate to vote for beforehand or entrust the choice to the group leader or tribal chief, but those wanting to exercise their voting rights are obliged to come to the polling station to return the C-7 [voting registration] form to officers at the station,” she said.

Beatrix said the old system was prone to manipulation because the number of voters represented by the community leaders could not be verified.

The module will be issued in December this year and the campaign period will begin in January.

The communities in Papua’s mountainous regions have applied the noken system since 1971. “The noken system is part of our national cultural wealth. However, it should comply with administrative requirements,” added Beatrix.