Indonesians exercise civil rights away from home

Not only were some Indonesians disappointed when they found out their names had been omitted from the voters’ list on Thursday’s election day, but they also suffered a massive and systemic violation of their constitutional rights, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said.

And others who were lucky enough to cast their ballot are likely to feel similarly dejected – especially Indonesian expatriates. Like scores of eligible voters within the country, many of the nearly 1.5 million eligible voters living overseas will have also cast invalid votes – which is partly to be blamed on lack of voter education.

For example in Hong Kong, the vote counting that started today is likely to exclude the vote of one unfortunate maid. She said she had only sent cut-outs of the logo of her chosen party and the name of her prefered candidate.

Some Indonesians living in the United Kingdom will discover the reason they could not vote was the stamps used to send their voting invitation were six pence short, Antara news agency reported Friday, citing an election official in London.

The Easter holiday in the UK also hampered the process, as all the post offices are closed from April 10 to 13. As in Indonesia, the Easter holidays also contributed to low attendance in Belgium and Luxembourg. Voters on holidays had no way of casting ballots other than at their registered polling station. The Brussels polling station saw 263 voters, while the other 388 voters were expected to post their ballots.

Nevertheless, Indonesia’s overseas students and workers still experienced a slice of Indonesian life on the election day.

“It was greeted with much excitement and enthusiasm,” said Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Amris Hasan, although only 108 out of the 2,959 registered voters actually voted, officials said.

Just like voters at home, an Indonesian living in Vietnam said he had no idea who to vote for, as there were so many candidates to pick from among the 38 political parties. Only half of the 189 registered voters came to the embassy in Hanoi, reports said.

Rusye Waladow, a migrant worker from Manado in North Sulawesi, said she voted for a different party than in the 2004 elections.

“At that time, the party leader said we, the migrant workers, were heroes and if he was elected, he would fight for our cause. But nothing has changed. Our salaries are still cut by labor agencies,” she said.