Women unaware of their political power<\/p>\n
By Stevie Emilia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Kustinah knows the incumbent President is B.J.
\nHabibie, who replaced Soeharto. But she doesn't know how he came
\nto power.<\/p>\n
Neither has she ever used her right to vote in a general
\nelection, although she has spent 22 years of her life in Jakarta,
\nthe heart of Indonesia's political system.<\/p>\n
\"I am just a scavenger... I am sort of useless,\" the 38-year-
\nold woman said.<\/p>\n
She moved to Jakarta from her hometown in Malang, East Java,
\nwith her husband. The couple was seeking a better future but the
\nharsh reality of life in the capital tossed them in the trash
\nbin. They live in a shack by the railway tracks in Tanah Abang,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The elementary school graduate has no Jakarta identification
\ncard. Like other poor families in this neighborhood, she does not
\nhave the luxury of watching TV or reading the newspaper. And she
\ndoesn't realize it is easy to register to vote in next month's
\nelections.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know how to vote... besides, I don't have any
\ndocuments like a marriage certificate or a school diploma. I lost
\nthem...,\" Kustinah said.<\/p>\n
When asked how she learned the names of the presidents,
\nKustinah said: \"I was told by my friends.\" Her friends are fellow
\nscavengers.<\/p>\n
What matters to her is feeding her three children. Her
\nyoungest child is nine-years-old. Her husband died five years
\nago.<\/p>\n
\"What's the use of nyoblos (voting) for people like me,\" she
\nasked. As of May 4, the deadline for voter registration, she had
\nnot registered.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that 140 million people will participate in
\nthe June 7 elections -- touted as the country's first democratic
\npoll in over three decades. Around 52 percent of these 140
\nmillion voters will be women.<\/p>\n
Like Kustinah, a great number of women do not realize that as
\nthe majority of voters, they have considerable power in the
\ncountry's political system. Nor do they have sound basic
\nknowledge about the political parties contesting the elections.<\/p>\n
A housewife, Haryani, said she would vote for the same party
\nher husband voted for.<\/p>\n
\"My husband told me to vote for the party he is a member of,\"
\nshe said. She said the party's symbol was a bull's head, an
\napparent reference to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
She said she felt it was correct to vote according to how her
\nhusband voted. \"My husband said that it's a good party,\" the
\nmother of two said.<\/p>\n
Does she know about the party's programs?<\/p>\n
\"No... but I know that it put up banners all over my
\nneighborhood,\" the resident of Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta, who
\nhas registered for the upcoming elections, said.<\/p>\n
In past elections, Haryani and her husband always voted for
\nGolkar, whose symbol is banyan tree.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know much (about politics)... I just do what my
\nhusband wants me to do,\" Haryani said. \"I don't think there's
\nanything wrong with that.\"<\/p>\n
Women activists and scholars have been aggressively
\ncampaigning for women to take part in the general election. They
\nhave urged women to vote for parties which promote women's
\ncauses.<\/p>\n
The activists also have demand a greater say in politics for
\nwomen. They have proposed women be allotted at least 30 percent
\nof the seats in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
In November 1997, 108 out of the 1,000 seats in the People's
\nConsultative Assembly were held by women. In the so-called Reform
\nand Development Cabinet, there are only two women ministers out
\nof a total of 36 ministers: State Minister for Women's Affairs
\nTutty Alawiyah and Minister of Social Services Justika Baharsyah.<\/p>\n
Noted psychologist and chairwoman of the National Commission
\non Violence Against Women Saparinah Sadli has urged women to be
\ncritical and vote for parties of their own choosing.<\/p>\n
She said women were marginalized in the male-dominated
\npolitical system, making them unaware of their rights.<\/p>\n
\"Over the past 32 years (during the Soeharto regime), most
\nwomen voted for the parties their husbands' chose,\" Saparinah
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"Now, since women make up the majority of voters,
\nthey should use their power to ensure that political parties
\nfight for their interests. They can do this by being critical in
\nchoosing which parties to vote for,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She also believes women are not taken seriously in the
\npolitical arena, as evidenced by the absence of specific programs
\ntargeting women.<\/p>\n
\"But things have changed now,\" the activist from the Women for
\nElection Awareness Movement said.<\/p>\n
She said there were a number of women who could play an
\nimportant role in politics and she refuted assumptions that women
\nwere \"less qualified\" than men.<\/p>\n
\"Who can say that the quality of all the men sitting in the
\nHouse of Representatives is good,\" Saparinah asked.<\/p>\n
When asked whether there was any party really fighting for
\nwomen's causes, she pointed at the results of a recent gathering
\nof representatives from 11 political parties, during which the
\nparties presented their respective platforms.<\/p>\n
Among the parties represented at the gathering were PDI
\nPerjuangan, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) and the Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
\"From their presentations, it turned out that there are hardly
\nany specific programs aimed at women voters,\" Saparinah said.<\/p>\n
She added that some parties did have programs which addressed
\nwomen's causes, although they were not specific. \"I wish they
\ncould have been serious...,\" Saparinah said.<\/p>\n
She was particularly surprised by the PDI Perjuangan
\nrepresentative, who said the party saw \"no need\" to have specific
\nprograms for women.<\/p>\n
\"They said that there are no problems faced by women... we
\nwere stunned by their statement,\" Saparinah said.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter
\nof Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, is the first woman to
\nlead a major political party in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Saparinah urged women activists and scholars to be proactive
\nin promoting the role of women in politics, including identifying
\npotential women candidates.<\/p>\n
\"We need women, who are not only have the potential, but also
\nwilling to be appointed (as candidates)...\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/women-unaware-of-their-political-power-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}