Papua Police Identify Potential Threats Toward Regional Election
10 October 2017 21:18 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Semarang - Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said that his institution has already mapped out conflict potential regions ahead of the 2018 Regional Head Elections. Police have also mapped out public figures that can potentially spark conflicts.
“Other than regional mapping, we have also mapped out certain public figures,” said Boy at the Semarang Police Academy on Tuesday, October 10. Police are focusing on the preparation for conflict prevention.
Read: One Killed in Clash over District Head Election in Papua
The regional elections in Papua will be held simultaneously on June 27, in seven cities and districts.
The preparation for the Papuan regional elections has been under police spotlight since the National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian includes Papua and West Java as conflict-prone regions during the elections.
Despite prioritizing a much more persuasive approach towards conflict solving, police have stated that they will handle suspects of public unrest firmly. Boy said that there were many cases of mass mobilization in the 2017 regional elections, therefore, he hopes that it will not happen again in the 2018 regional election.
ARKHELAUS WISNU TRIYOGO