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Jayapura. Days of violent brawls between supporters of rival political candidates have killed at least two people and forced authorities to delay the election in Papua’s Tolikara district.

The election for district head, initially scheduled for today, was postponed indefinitely on Thursday amid continuing violence.

Supporters of the Golkar-backed incumbent, John Tabo, and his running mate, Edi Suyanto, have fought running battles with supporters of the Democratic Party-backed Usman Wanimbo and running mate Amos Jikwa.

In Jakarta, National Police headquarters confirmed that two men had died and at least 58 people were injured during the clashes, which began last Wednesday in the district capital, Kaburaga.

The police added that four government buildings had also been destroyed.

“It’s impossible to have elections with this security situation,” said the Tolikara Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Rahmat Siregar.

“Supporters from both sides have faced off, ready to fight,” he added. “Officials from all the related agencies have agreed to delay the polls until the situation here is secure.”

Rahmat said the supporters were carrying swords, knives and arrows, and had ignored a police order to get off the streets.

He added that the police and the military were coordinating to try and control the situation and prevent any more brawls.

The clashes began last Wednesday when supporters of the two candidates faced off in front of the local elections committee office in Kaburaga. A brawl broke out, resulting in two buildings being burned down and two cars and a motorcycle being destroyed.

Clashes have continued in the capital for the last week.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said the conflict began when Tabo, the current district head, rejected the new members of the elections committee, who were inaugurated on Jan. 4.

“According to Tabo’s side, the committee is not neutral,” Saud said. “They [Tabo’s supporters] wanted to start over and select new committee members.”

Saud said Tabo mobilized his supporters to stage rallies while Usman’s backers organized counter-rallies, leading to a series of deadly brawls since January.

Similar clashes in Tolikara last month resulted in the death of a teenage boy, Yusuf Yikwa.

Papua has seen a spate of politically charged violence, particularly in the newly established district of Puncak Papua, where at least 30 people have died in a feud lasting nearly seven months.

Supporters of Elvis Tabuni, the speaker of the Puncak Papua legislative council, and backers of Simon Alom, who led the transitional administration during the establishment of the district, have been engaged in running clashes since July over an elections dispute.

Siti Zuhro, a regional autonomy expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), has said that the central government and the national elections commission need to do a better job of ensuring peaceful polls in Papua, which has a history of tribal violence. This is especially true, she said, in new administrative regions like Puncak Papua.

Regional elections are prone to disputes and clashes, she said, and could cause widespread conflicts if the KPU fails to assert itself independently.