VOTING IN TWO PAPUA DISTRICTS DELAYED DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Jakarta, April 9 (ANTARA) - Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto said the legislative elections in Yahukimo and Paniaki districts in Papua have been delayed as bad weather had obstructed the despatch of election logistics to the two regions.

"The delay is understandable because it was caused by bad weather." he said after witnessing voter-casting activity at two polling stations at Suropati Park in central Jakarta on Thursday.

It was now up to the regional election commissions concerned to work out the technicalities of the postponement of voting in the two districts, he said.

No new regulation needed to be issued to validate the postponment because under existing election organization rules it was possible to postpone voting in an emergency, the minister said.

The postponement of voting in the two districts apart, the elections in Papua as a whole on Thursday proceeded in a proper way, Mardiyanto said.

A few days ago, he said, he had predicted that the polls in four districts in Papua province could not take place on the scheduled date "but it now turns out a postponement has occurred in only two districts."