I came to vote because I wanted to elect the Indonesian president and vice president though I live far away from the polling station.
Kota Kinabalu (ANTARA) - Indonesian citizens who work and live in Malaysia's Sabah are very enthusiastic about channeling their voting rights in the 2019 election.

An Indonesian citizen in Sabah, Lamini, said on Sunday that she was very happy to be able to exercise her right to vote in the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Lamini was very happy even though her residence was very far from the polling station (TPS) taking place at the Indonesian Consulate General of Kota Kinabalu.

"I came to vote because I wanted to elect the Indonesian president and vice president though I live far away from the polling station," said the woman who have been working since a year ago.

Lamini uses her right to vote with her passport. She also admitted that it was the first time for her to vote.

Mulia, another Indonesian citizen who comes from Buton District in South Sulawesi, shared Lamini's view saying that she firstly exercised her political right though she has been working in Sabah for 15 years.

This woman stated that she had never been informed formally on elections in the past so that she had never used her right to vote.

Coming to the polling station with her husband, Baoding, at the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu, Mulia said she was keen to choose her preferred pair of presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Her husband, Baoding, told journalists that he was also very happy to be able to vote for the president to improve Indonesia's economy and social welfare.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Consul General of Kota Kinabalu, Krishna Djelani, stated that the high enthusiasm of Indonesian citizens using their voting rights was inseparable from the performance of the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) and the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

"The success of the general elections is particularly observed from the smooth running of the vote and the high enthusiasm of Indonesian citizens," said Krishna.

Looking at real situation at 19 polling stations at the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu, eligible voters took a long line before getting the ballot papers from the committee.

Translator: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019