South Papua is one of the youngest provinces in Indonesia. In 2024, precisely on November 27, this newest province will hold a democratic party, precisely by holding regional head elections. For the first time, South Papua will elect its regional leader through a general election system based on six principles, namely direct, general, free, secret, honest and fair. Previously in 2024 at the beginning of the year, South Papua also held a democratic party, namely the election of the president, vice president and also the Indonesian people’s representative council. Seeing the success of the national general election, the first regional head election in South Papua must also be said to be a success. The people of South Papua, especially indigenous Papuans, certainly have certain criteria that they want to choose for the leader they will choose in the future. Starting from how the leader can take advantage of the special autonomy that applies in Papua. This autonomy will help indigenous Papuans to occupy strategic positions in the government sector, because regional leaders who participate in the regional head elections must also be indigenous Papuans. All of this is in accordance with the implementation of special autonomy, namely the involvement of the local community in every activity which ultimately aims to provide benefits and progress for the community itself. Of course, it is in line with democracy, because democracy has three meanings, namely from the people, by the people, and for the people.
The prospective leaders who will be elected in the simultaneous regional head elections are expected to understand the situation in South Papua, both in terms of human resources and natural resources, which can primarily be utilized for the welfare of the community itself. In order to utilize all of these resources through programs and policies proposed by prospective leaders when campaigning to attract voters.
Community support is an important thing that is of concern to all parties in South Papua. In fact, the democratic party held in early 2024, South Papua is one of the regions where general elections can be held properly. Therefore, this condition is expected to be repeated at the end of the year. The Police and the Indonesian National Army are also involved in monitoring the progress of the implementation of the simultaneous regional head elections in the region. Other parties also participate, especially tribal leaders and the people of South Papua, so that they can take part in the first general election to elect their regional leaders with favorable conditions. In the end, this election process is expected to produce a winner according to the wishes of the community, namely a leader who can provide benefits for all.