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German-born candidate draws attention during campaign period and voting day
Petra Odebrecht, 42, a German-born woman running for a legislative seat here, arrived at polling station 04 in Umalas Kauh hamlet, Badung, on Thursday riding her motorbike
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Petra Odebrecht, 42, a German-born woman running for a legislative seat here, arrived at polling station 04 in Umalas Kauh hamlet, Badung, on Thursday riding her motorbike.
Her presence soon captured the attention of the other voters gathered outside the polling station.
Odebrecht, who was granted Indonesian citizenship in 1992, approached the registration desk and produced her voter identification card.
The poll official manning the desk inspected the card before recorded the details in the registration book. He then issued Odebrecht queuing number.
The number was 43. Had Odebrecht been Indonesian by blood, she might have been deeply worried, since she represents a party officially numbered 16, while her candidate number is 5.
Unmatched numbers are ominous signs in Indonesia, where superstitious beliefs remain deep-rooted and influence even the most educated of people.
But Odebrecht seemed unfazed. She calmly walked to the station's waiting area and sat quietly, waiting her turn to cast the ballot.
Odebrecht is running for a seat at the country's House of Representatives, on the Democratic Reform Party's (PDP) ticket.
The party was founded by renegade politicians from the powerful Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
"Yes, this is my first voting experience here - after almost 20 years living in Indonesia. I chose to vote now as I started becoming concerned about my political rights about a year ago," the yoga instructor told the waiting journalists.
"I feel excited about *voting*; especially with the beauty of Indonesia's diversity, with 38 participating parties in this election year."
She added that voting in Indonesia was far more challenging than in her native Germany.
"In Germany, you only have four or five main parties, while here you have many, which means more effort to pick a candidate," she said.
Odebrecht got her Indonesian citizenship after marrying a Sundanese man. The couple lived in Bandung, West Java, for four years before divorcing. Odebrecht then moved to Bali, where she has remained ever since.
She proclaims a deep love for the island, which she says motivated her to represent it in parliament.
"This *Bali* is my home. I've been living and working here for years. I have high concern for the country's democracy, so I agreed to join the PDP, which upholds democracy and pluralist platforms, and was willing to run for a legislative seat," she said.
Odebrecht added she was attracted by the PDP's implementation of the collective leadership system, which in her opinion symbolized "a real democracy".
"Everyone has an equal role within the party. We are not forced to follow one particular leader, like in other parties," she said.
Asked about memorable ex-periences during campaigning, Odebrecht quickly answered "vote buying".
"It's so sad when the most common response you get from your constituents is that they expect material payback from you. It happened quite often to me," she said.
She was realistic about her party's standing in the election results.
"I realize the PDP is a new party - it was established in 2006 and has no experience in the House yet.
"So I can't tell you just yet my prediction of whether I'm going to get elected."
