Indonesian housemaids in Gulf miss polls

Indonesian housemaids in Gulf miss polls

JAKARTA (JP): More than 3,500 Indonesian domestic helpers in
Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar could not vote in the June 7 general
election because they were refused permission by their employers,
a student activist said on Saturday.

Guspiabri of the Association of Indonesian Students for
Strategic and International Studies (Aissis), a student group
acting as a poll watchdog for Indonesian voters overseas, said
that Indonesian embassies in all three Gulf states claimed that
employers of domestic helpers did not permit them to leave the
residences to vote. The helpers were registered, he added.

"The Overseas General Elections bureau (BPLN) at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs said that the Indonesian embassies in Kuwait,
Qatar and Bahrain notified all people there of the elections on
June 7," Guspiabri said at a news conference on overseas
Indonesian voters at the Aryaduta Hotel in Central Jakarta.

"A lot showed up for voter registration, but not even half for
the voting itself."

Guspiabri added that in the three Gulf states, only 1,139 of
about 5,000 registered Indonesian voters cast their ballots on
June 7.

Worldwide, about 1.9 million registered Indonesian voters are
estimated to have voted.

The group said only four of the 108 Overseas Electoral
Committee (PPLN) offices worldwide had yet to send accurate
figures and details on the voters.

Guspiabri identified them as the offices in Jeddah (40,000
registered voters), Singapore (33,000), Tokyo (6,730) and Davao
City in the Philippines (3,515).(ylt)