By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Feb 11: Indonesian General Election Committee (Kuching) chairman Ade Dewanto today advised the some 140,000 eligible Indonesian voters in Sarawak to cast their votes in their country’s general election, which will be held this coming April 17.
The casting of votes in Sarawak will be between April 8 and 14.
Roughly 190 million Indonesians are eligible to elect their president, vice-president and people’s representatives for the Central Parliament simultaneously.
In calling upon Indonesians in Sarawak to cast their votes, Ade said: “It is a platform for the Indonesian people to exercise their rights in determining the country’s future government.
“For those in Kuching, they can cast their votes at the Consulate General Office at Jalan Stutong from 8am-5pm on April 14.”
Ade told a press conference at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia here today that Kuching Zone, which includes Bau, Lundu, Samarahan and Simunjan, had the most number of voters — 15,000.
For those places located far away from the consulate, they would be using 479 mobile ballot boxes, each with 300 to 400 ballot papers.
“This will be facilitated and escorted by the sub-committee of the General Election Committee to the working premises and estates where the eligible voters reside or stay. The casting of votes for these voters will be on April 8-9.”
He revealed that they would also be using the services of Pos Malaysia to deliver ballot papers through mail/post.
Ade explained that the ballot counting process would only be done at the ballot counting centres on April 17.
“As responsible Indonesians, we should not want to miss out on this opportunity to be involved in the process of establishing the future Indonesian government (for the 2019-2024 period) by exercising our constitutional right.”
In the coming general election, which is also called ‘Pemilu Serentak 2019’, president Joko Widodo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will be challenged by Prabowo Subianto of The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). — DayakDaily
