As part of the preparations for the Indonesian general election 2019, Air Marshal (Ret) Muhammad Basri Sidehabi, Indonesian Ambassador to Qatar, recently appointed and sworn in head, members, and secretariat of Local Election Committee in Abroad for Qatar. The ambassador made the appointments on behalf of the General Election Commission, also known as KPU (Komisi Pemilihan UmumI) in Indonesia.
The ambassador administered the oath to the head and all members of the committee. Sidehabi congratulated the members and hoped the committee would perform its duties with responsibility to facilitate the Indonesian general election in Qatar.
The ambassador further hoped that the Indonesian diaspora under the aegis of the Permiqa, a community organisation, would provide necessary support to the election committee for making the election successful.
The election committee consists of Heri Kartono, Head of the Committee, Dedi Buditriyanto, Ahmad Syarnubi Fatah, Agustina B C Sumayouw, Zaenal Arifin, Enjang Irpan and Syahrial Sawadjur, all members of the committee. Zaenur Rofid is secretary of the committee. Lucky Malik Ahmad and Suhendrayani are the executive officers of the committee. Speaking on the occasion, Heri Kartono said that he felt honoured to be trusted as the head of the committee.
According to Boy Dharmawan, an official of Indonesian embassy, a large number of community members and the staff of the embassy attended the oath-taking ceremony. He added that according to the data from International Organisation for Migration in 2015, the number of Indonesians residing in Qatar was approximately 43,000. He added that however the number of the expatriates was predicted to be less in 2018.