Jul 15, 2014

West Papua: Nation-wide Boycott Of Presidential Election


Approximately 80% of people of West Papua held a nation-wide peaceful boycott of Indonesia’s presidential elections after the West Papua National Committee issued statements calling for a protest against Indonesian rule and the continued denial of West Papuans' self-determination

Below is an article published by Radio New Zealand International:

The West Papua National Committee has reported that many people in Indonesia's Papua region supported its call to boycott this week's [9 July 2014] Presidential election.

The committee, known as the KNPB, reports that approximately 80% of voters in Papua and West Papua provinces observed the boycott.

The organisation says some local residents also invited it to burn their voting papers.

The KNPB says that those who voted were mainly migrants to Papua from other parts of Indonesia.

It had called for the boycott as a protest against Indonesian rule and the continued denial of West Papuans' self-determination.

The KNPB is a leading pro-independence organisation in West Papua and says it advocates a peaceful approach to ending the Indonesian occupation.

 

Photo Flickr @ Austronesian Expeditions