TEMPO.CO, Manokwari - Foreign journalists and monitoring institutions can monitor general elections in Indonesia, particularly Manokwari in West Papua, if they secure permits and immigration documents.

"The permits can be obtained from the Foreign Ministry," Chief of the Manokwari Immigration Office Bugie Kurniawan said in a press briefing in Manokwari, Papua, on Friday, April 12.

The foreign monitoring institutions must be official institutions accredited by the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu).

"Foreign monitoring institutions can monitor the elections through two ways. One of them is that they are invited by the elections' organizers such as KPU (General Elections Commission) and Bawaslu," he said.

The second way is that they can file applications, but they must meet qualifications as monitoring institutions, Kurniawan added.

Foreign journalists wishing to cover the Indonesia elections must secure a permit from the Foreigners' Visits Coordination Team (Tim Pora) at the Foreign Ministry. The team consists of representatives from the State Intelligence Board (BIN), the National Police (Polri), immigration office and other related supervisory elements.

He said the Manokwari Immigration Office will supervise foreign nationals before and after the April 17, 2019 elections.

The Immigration Office is coordinating and exchanging information with Bawaslu, intelligence officials, and law enforcers and Tim Pora.

"We will supervise foreign journalists and monitoring officers up to a sub-district level before, during, and after the 2019 elections," he said.

ANTARA