VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: The holding of General Elections abroad has its own challenges, starting from the Final Voters List (DPT) which has not been perfectly integrated to challenges for election organizers abroad who incidentally are not formal Election organizers. The Chairperson of Commission II of the Indonesian Parliament, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tanjung, said that to address the DPT issue, the General Elections Commission (KPU) carried out a matching and research mechanism for DPT that had been recorded by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"Foreign and domestic DPT must be of serious concern and we want it to continue to the KPU so that this can be continuously updated as long as we don't have valid population data yet and it is managed in a good system," he said.

Another issue that often becomes a challenge in the implementation of elections abroad is the existence of election organizers who incidentally do not originate from formal officials. This poses a challenge, because the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) is an officer selected by the KPU.

"So far, most of them have been run by friends at the Indonesian Embassy or volunteers who are currently studying abroad or working there. Not necessarily able to work optimally, “he said.

He said PPLN has a duty to reach out to Indonesian people abroad who are widespread. In addition, PPLN has a duty to convince Indonesian people abroad to exercise their right to vote in accordance with the provisions.

"For overseas, there must be extraordinary effort from our Indonesian Embassy to be able to help form devices that are capable of reaching the public to provide information," he said.

Nonetheless, Ahmad Doli Kurnia explained, Indonesia has a good history in holding elections, especially when referring to the holding of elections during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Yesterday we were recorded as a country that had successfully implemented the 2020 Pilkada in 271 regions with a turnout rate of 83 percent. This is a success story to be continued in the 2024 Pemiu," he concluded. (VOI/Andy)