| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
For a disillusioned Indonesian electorate, golput is a vote
Jakarta Globe - April 4, 2014
Politicians of every stripe are on the stump, traveling the length and breadth of the country, addressing audiences at mass rallies where they appear alongside dangdut singers and members handing out T-shirts and stickers, and often cash.
Each vote is a step closer to victory and the parties spare no expense in pushing their candidates through roadside banners, leaflets and soundbites.
It is widely assumed there is no place in the political landscape for anything as sophisticated as a manifesto; the electorate here, so perceived wisdom has it, is happy with a packed lunch and a day out.
The problem with that thinking, the assumption that voters can be easily bought, does not gel with the facts. At the last election in 2009, official figures showed 39.1 percent of the electorate spoiled their votes or didn't vote at all.
The Indonesians have an acronym for it. Golput, from Golongan Putih, translates as White Party and refers back to the days when election results were announced in advance of polling.
Back in the days of Suharto, voters had three choices: yellow for the ruling Golkar Party, red for the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), and green for the Islamic United Development Party (PPP).
Unofficially, there was a fourth choice: Ignore the yellow, red and green and mark the empty white space on the ballot. Ahead of Wednesday's election, analysts are worried even more voters may choose to spoil their vote or not bother.
Take, for example, first-time voter Rizky Wibowo, 21, a university student. "I'm not voting because there is no candidate I can trust," he says. "Surya Paloh, Prabowo Subianto, Wiranto, Aburizal Bakrie are all agents of the New Order [Suharto's regime]. And what about Wiranto and Prabowo on human rights abuses? Aburizal still has unfinished business in Lapindo" – the eruption of a mud volcano in East Java linked to activities by a firm controlled by his family – "and so on. I just can't trust them."
It's not only first-time voters who feel alienated by politics and politicians. Sunarti, a 51-year-old merchant, is similarly dismissive.
"Voting? You know, we've been through eras of leadership and nothing has changed for the better. Sukarno was accused of communism, Suharto was a dictator, Gus Dur [Abdurrahman Wahid] was a joker, Mega [Megawati Soekarnoputri] was a whiner, and SBY [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] whines even harder!" she said.
She also claimed that prices continued to rise, no matter who the president was. "I don't care about politics any more. I just want to live my life, do my business, and die in peace," she added.
Titi Anggraini, director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), said such opinions were common.
"Research shows the main reason people spoil their votes is they think elections fail to bring any change to their lives. Second, they feel like there is no choice as they don't know who the candidates are. Then, they also don't know about the elections. They might be unregistered or uninformed. Last, it's an ideological view – they feel that voting is not something that they have to do," Titi says.
She also points out the public perception of politics and politicians is very low due the large number of corruption cases tainting the parties and candidates.
Countries like Australia and Singapore enforce compulsory voting on their citizens, making the vote not just a right but an obligation, which Titi says would help dispel voter apathy if implemented here. "I agree with making participation an obligation, but for that we would have to change our Constitution," she says.
The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the highest Islamic authority in the country, has weighed in on the matter, issuing a fatwa, or decree, ahead of the 2009 election declaring golput haram, or forbidden under Islam.
It has reissued the fatwa for the upcoming election, but the decree is not binding, and only seen as a guideline. "I don't think it will have any impact on voter apathy," Titi says. "Look at the last election when they issued a fatwa and golput went up!"
She suggests comprehensive political education is the best way to beat golput. "It has to start in schools," she says. "Political parties also have to be involved in the process as well. They need to have a democratic recruitment process. The current system only benefits the ones with power and money."
A number of movements have sprouted up within the last few years to try and raise awareness of politics and encourage people not to waste their votes.
"Social advocacy will be more effective when it is done on a group basis, and that is what these social movements have been doing. I think it's effective, even though it may not bring immediate results. However, something has to be done," Titi says.
She notes that this time around, the presence of Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, a presidential candidate, has boosted public interest in the political process.
"I think Joko has what it takes to be a leader, says Rizki, the university student. "However, his tendency to jump ship before finishing a job makes me question his commitment."
Sunarti agrees that Indonesia might improve under Joko's leadership, but only if he is not someone else's puppet. "The whiner [Megawati] has too much influence on him. If he can't stand the pressure of a fat whiner, how can he handle the pressure of the whole world?," she says.
Hasan Hasbi from the Cyrus Network, a political consultant behind Joko's successful gubernatorial bid in 2012, says good candidates can encourage people to vote. Voter turnout in the 2012 Jakarta election was up 5 percent from 2007, thanks in large part to Joko, Hasbi says.
"It wasn't much, but it was a start," he says. "It's a natural law. If the candidates are promising, participation will be higher and vice versa. Consultants can help, but the candidates must have something to offer or no one will vote for them."
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/disillusioned-indonesian-electorate-golput-vote/.
See also:
 |