Koran tests underway prior to Indonesian elections

08/09/2008 16:09:57

Indonesia's Aceh province will begin testing candidates on the Koran for next year's provincial elections from Monday.

Under Aceh's sharia law, all Muslim candidates must be able to read the Koran.

Aceh province, on the westernmost end of Indonesia, is the only area officially allowed to use sharia, or Islamic law, as part of a local autonomy deal.

An election commission official says more than 1,300 Muslim candidates from 43 political parties will recite verses from the holy book before a jury for about five minutes.

About 3 million people in Aceh are entitled to vote in Indonesia's parliamentary and provincial elections next April.

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