Indonesian Citizens In Morocco Tempuh Hundreds Of Kilometers To Choose At TPS Rabat

JAKARTA - Dozens of Indonesian students and diaspora in the city of Fes, Morocco, traveled hundreds of kilometers by land to vote at the polling stations (TPS) which were opened at the Indonesian Embassy in Rabat, Sunday (11/2) local time.

According to a written statement from the World PPI received on Monday, the Indonesian citizen in Fes City rented a bus with a capacity of 50 people to travel to Rabat, which is 201.5 km west of Fes City, and must be reached within four hours.

"I really appreciate Indonesians in Fes who took the initiative and rented their own buses. Alhamdulillah, the price is more affordable when compared to traveling alone," said AmmarAl Ammudi, coordinator of Indonesian students at Fes as reported by ANTARA, Monday, February 12.

He said the initiative should be appreciated, considering that PPLN Rabat has deployed its efforts to socialize elections in several cities in Morocco some time ago and prepare well for the 2024 election process.

According to him, Indonesian students and diaspora in Morocco are still enthusiastic about celebrating the democratic party even though they are not in the country and have to travel long distances to polling stations at the Indonesian Embassy in Rabat.

Apart from the FEz, Indonesian students are also scattered in other cities in Morocco, such as Marrakech, Tangier, and Tetouan.

Sunday's voting day, he said, would also adjust to weekends to reduce the potential for voters' absence.

PPLN Rabat opened a TPS at the Indonesian Embassy in Rabat to facilitate 288 Indonesian citizens registered with the DPT. PPLN also provides mobile ballot boxes (KSK) for voters in the two cities of Morocco, namely Oujda for 20 voters, and Casablanca for six voters.

In addition, PPLN Rabat also serves eight voters in the Mauritania country with the KSK method.

With all registered voters of DPT served at TPS and KSK, plus 96 people who are included in the additional voter list (DPTbLN), the total number of voters served by PPLN Rabat is 419 people, of whom 80 percent are students.