TKIs able to vote in 2004 polls

TKIs able to vote in 2004 polls

JAKARTA: The government has said that Indonesian citizens
working illegally overseas (TKIs), will not lose their voting
rights in the 2004 general election and need not fear possible
arrest.

Iswayudha, a senior official at the Directorate of the
Protection of Indonesians Overseas at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, said here on Wednesday that the data on TKIs would be
kept secret and only used for electoral purposes.

An estimated 1.1 million Indonesian citizens are working
overseas and the most part of them are employed illegally in
Malaysia and the Middle East.

Iswayudha said, Indonesian Embassies were set to collect data
in October on Indonesian workers overseas, including those
working without the necessary documents. --JP