The right to vote

The right to vote

From Koran Tempo

The 2004 general election is still one and a half years away and the electoral law is still under discussion at the House of Representatives.

Every citizen enjoys the right to vote for one of the 237 political parties in this country. It is also a citizen's right not to vote for any of these political parties, or in other words, to put himself or herself in the category of the "White Group" (so called because the citizen, instead of voting for a particular political party by marking the appropriate symbol of the party on the ballot paper, simply marks his/her choice on the plain part of the ballot paper).

It is regrettable that some citizens fail to exercise their right in elections. Some say people in this "White Group" lack self-confidence.

The "White Group" is now an interesting topic of discussion as it is still polemical in nature. Some say that if a citizen persuades another citizen to refrain from exercising his/her right in a general election, a sanction will be imposed. Others believe that it is the right of every Indonesian citizen to exercise or not to exercise this right.

A final decision has yet to be made concerning this matter because the political parties represented in the House have their own interests to pursue.

I believe that it is purely a citizen's right to exercise or not to exercise his/her right to vote for a political party in a general election. No sanctions, therefore, should be imposed on those deciding not to exercise this right. As Indonesians are now learning to practice democracy, every citizen is expected to exercise this right as best they can. However, all this must be left up to every citizen at election time.

SRI WULANDARI, Depok, West Java