Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia will see nearly 10,000 people, including some from the country's ethnic Chinese minority, compete in Wednesday's general election to become one of 580 lawmakers in the national parliament.
According to the Indonesian General Election Commission (KPU), there are 9,917 candidates representing 18 political parties in 38 provinces. Among the candidates are Indonesians of Chinese descent, who accounted for about 2.8 million of Indonesia's then-237 million population, according to the 2010 national census. The most recent 2020 census did not include their ethnic origins.
For Chinese Indonesians, democracy has given them political rights that were previously restricted.
For more than 30 years under the government of Soeharto, who resigned following mass protests in 1998, Chinese Indonesians were not allowed to publicly celebrate the Lunar New Year and assimilation policies were introduced to make them more “Indonesian”, effectively turning them into seconds. class citizens. Many turned to businesses and the private sector to earn a living after being limited in government jobs.
“Politics is not for everyone,” said Taufiq Tanasaldy, senior lecturer in Indonesian and Asian studies at the University of Tasmania. “Particularly for the Chinese who had endured decades of discriminatory policies under the Suharto regime.”
But Taufiq said interest had “grown after Soeharto due to political reforms and policies aimed at eradicating discriminatory practices,” referring to equal opportunities for ethnic Chinese to run for public office and vote for their preferred candidates.
“The elections or appointments of several Chinese individuals in national and regional politics sparked this growing interest. The visibility of their initial ‘success’ has been important for the Chinese community,” he told Al Jazeera.
Among the prominent Chinese who have entered politics is former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok. He was subsequently jailed for blasphemy for comments made during the election campaign and has adopted a lower profile since his release.
“Representation has been stable and certainly not worse,” Taufiq said.
But for many Indonesian Chinese voters, Taufiq said, “parties with nationalist platforms are more attractive compared to those that espouse sectarian values…particularly at the national level.”
With more than 270 million people, Indonesia has almost 205 million eligible voters who will participate in the 2024 elections. The general election will be held just four days after the Lunar New Year. February 14 is also Ash Wednesday, a holy day for Catholic Indonesians.
Despite representation, the current proportional representation system could disadvantage some candidates who now have to campaign directly for seats.
R Siti Zuhro, research professor of political science at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), says the open list made it “very difficult to compete” for some candidates compared to the previous system where votes went to the party in place of the matches. individual candidates.
“It depends more on the legislative candidate [to do the work] “Whether it's your effort or your money, in the execution of tactical strategies, not the match,” he told Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera spoke to three Chinese Indonesians running for the national parliament.
Fuidy Luckman, PKB
Fuidy Luckman is a candidate for the Muslim-based National Awakening Party (PKB), which supports Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar as president and vice president, as Muhaimin is its current president.
One of the founding figures of the PKB was the late Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, who lifted the ban on public Lunar New Year celebrations while in office in 2000.
Originally from Singkawang in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, Fuidy, 61, moved to Jakarta to attend university in 1983 and has lived there ever since.
He campaigned in some of the poorest areas of the sprawling capital, meeting with residents and also posting videos on TikTok and Instagram.
Fuidy, owner of a logging industry company in Jakarta, urged Chinese Indonesians to go out and vote and participate in Indonesia's “festival of democracy.”
“We ethnic Chinese don't need to feel allergic to politics because we live in Indonesia,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Do not ask to be recognized as Indonesians when, instead, we put aside the [democratic] processes.”
If elected, Fuidy wants to implement programs related to “justice” and “equality,” focusing on more affordable education and health care.
Mery Sutedjo, Partai Buruh
Mery Sutedjo joined the Partai Buruh (Labor Party), whose founders include several Indonesian national union confederations.
The party is headed by union activist Said Iqbal and has not officially endorsed any presidential candidate.
Mery, who runs a house construction company, says he found in Partai Buruh the right platform to push for better social welfare and law enforcement for the Indonesian working class, including manual and white-collar workers.
Born in Medan, in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, the 54-year-old moved to Jakarta more than 30 years ago to study at university and hopes to win one of the capital's seats in the national parliament.
As part of her campaign strategy, Mery hands out her business cards to people she meets and introduces herself. He has also asked for the support of his family, friends and business contacts.
“I hope there is an opportunity and a possibility for people like me, for an ordinary Chinese minority with no political experience or background, to run for office,” he told Al Jazeera.
Redi Nusantara, Perindo
Redi Nusantara, candidate of the Perindo Party, is running in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
Perindo supports the presidential couple of Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD. He backed outgoing President Joko Widodo when the leader won his second term in 2019.
The 55-year-old, who owns a factory that makes metal wiring racks, wants to attract more foreign investment to Indonesia and develop a tax regime that encourages manufacturers to use domestic products instead of imported components that come into the country through special economic zones. .
Originally from the provincial capital, Semarang, Redi targets the country's ethnic Chinese and business communities, as well as first-time voters. He also hopes to change the minds of those who might be planning to abstain from voting.
Redi also appeared on video podcasts, speaking about entrepreneurship.
He encourages Chinese Indonesians – especially the younger generation – to enter national politics and “fix it from within.”
“All ethnic Chinese, especially young people, must understand Indonesian politics,” Redi told Al Jazeera.
“Because if we, the Chinese community, don't understand parliament, we will always be the cash cow of the Indonesian economy,” he said, hoping that greater political participation will help change the persistent stereotype that ethnic Chinese only care about doing business.
