Indonesians overseas to vote only for DPR

JAKARTA: The General Elections Commission (KPU) says some two million Indonesians living overseas will lose their right to vote for legislators at the provincial and regental level next year due to technical reasons.

"Indonesians living overseas will only be able to elect legislators at the national level. Their votes, equal to five seats, will be given to Jakarta," KPU member Valina Singka Subakti said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the first meeting of regional KPUs.

There were only around 900,000 Indonesian overseas voters in the 1999 elections.

"Such a high number of overseas voters is caused by the increasing number of Indonesian workers in other countries," she said.

Valina added that KPU would verify the data on Indonesian voters living overseas next month.

Indonesia will hold its legislative election on April 5 and direct presidential election between June and August 2004.

KPU has completed the calculation of eligible voters at home with over 142 million people eligible to vote in the 2004 general election.

The figure does not include those living overseas.

So far, KPU has not decided on electoral districts for legislators at the national level due to problems related to the establishment of new provinces. --JP