EU poll monitor to visit Papua

JAKARTA: The head of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Indonesia, Glyn Ford, plans to visit Papua on Friday and Saturday to observe the province's preparations for the Sept. 20 presidential election runoff.

Ford will be accompanied by two EU EOM team members who are based in Jakarta and four others who are based in the Papuan towns of Jayapura and Manokwari.

It will be his seventh visit to towns outside Jakarta ahead of the election runoff after trips to Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Riau, Medan, Banda Aceh and Makassar.

The EU EOM is fielding 230 observers, the biggest mission to Indonesia ever, to monitor this year's elections in the country. -- JP