Jayapura- Secretary General of the Papuan Traditional Council, Leo Imbiri, said that traditional communities have a crucial role in ensuring that the implementation of the 2024 Regional Election runs smoothly.
He conveyed this when he was a resource person at the Coordination Meeting with Stakeholders “Launching the 2024 Election Vulnerability Mapping in Papua Province”.
In his presentation, he said that indigenous communities play a role in carrying out socialization and education in their territories.
“The role of indigenous peoples cannot be separated from the Papuan context. Indigenous communities can carry out an educational role. They can become agents of extension and education. “They can disseminate information about the election process, voters’ rights and supervisory duties to residents in their area,” said Leo.
He further conveyed the involvement of indigenous communities in participatory supervision which helps ensure the integrity of elections at the local level.
“They can supervise the candidate registration process, campaigns and voting in their traditional territories. As part of participatory supervision, indigenous peoples can report violations that occur during the regional elections, ranging from money politics, spreading hoaxes, or actions that are detrimental to the democratic process. The nature of indigenous communities which still uphold cultural values also plays an important role in upholding the integrity of participatory supervisors. Indigenous communities often have local wisdom values that value honesty, justice and active participation. “Their commitment to these values can strengthen participatory supervision,” he explained.
Apart from that, he also said that the existence of indigenous communities could also be a factor in the vulnerability of the implementation of regional elections.
“Currently there are many cases of indigenous people rejecting candidates who are not native residents of the area,” he explained.
