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Jakarta Post

Women say no to polygamous legislative aspirants

Legislative candidates known to have practiced polygamy may suffer a setback in their quest for seats in legislatures, after voters said they would take the aspirants' marital status into account when voting on April 9

Desy Nurhayati (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, April 1, 2009

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Women say no to polygamous legislative aspirants

L

egislative candidates known to have practiced polygamy may suffer a setback in their quest for seats in legislatures, after voters said they would take the aspirants' marital status into account when voting on April 9.

"I will definitely vote against polygamous candidates. How can they handle state issues if they can't even take good care of their families?" university student Andini said

Monday.

She said she suspected polygamous legislators were likely to neglect state duties as they would have to spare more time and energy dealing with their private responsibilities, compared to politicians who were monogamous.

The Indonesian Women's Solidarity has called on the public not to vote for legislative candidates or political leaders who practice polygamy. The group said the candidates would have biased views on issues concerning women and children because their acts of polygamy "belittled" women.

The activists announced last week a partial list of such candidates, which included prominent politicians from Muslim-based parties, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP), who are seeking re-election.

Around 171 million people are eligible to vote in the legislative elections, with roughly the same number of female voters as male voters.

Andini supported the feminists' move to make the list public, saying it would raise voter awareness about the candidates' marital status, which may have adverse impacts on their performance as people's representatives.

There has been no evidence yet that polygamy affects the performance of politicians in articulating their constituents' aspirations.

Ratini, a 60-year-old housewife, said she was against polygamous candidates because they set a bad example for the public.

"It's hurtful to see a husband take a second wife. I fear that if they are elected, they will encourage people to follow suit. As leaders, legislative candidates should be role models for their constituents," she said.

Muslim scholar Siti Musdah Mulia threw her weight behind the move against polygamous candidates.

"Those candidates will potentially neglect their responsibilities as people's representatives, because they will spend most of their time taking care of their families. How can we expect them to defend people if they ignore the feelings of their wives?" Musdah told The Jakarta Post.

She added polygamous candidates would be more prone to corruption because they had more families to feed.

Private sector employee Ari said she supported the feminists' move, but would not take the candidates' marital status as a main consideration when she voting in the coming elections.

"What I consider most important is the candidates' competence. But of course I would prefer a non-polygamous candidate if he is more competent than his polygamous rival," she said.

The polygamous blacklist has sparked criticism from the candidates and their party leaders, who say it is part of a smear campaign against them.

"The move teaches female voters to act irrationally, and it poses a threat to the education of democracy for women," PKS co-founder Hidayat Nur Wahid told the Post.

He added the exposure of the list would turn into a negative campaign against PKS candidates.

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