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Displaced Ahmadiyah in Mataram cast votes
Casting a ballot: An Ahmadiyah refugee from the Wisma Transito shelter in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, casts his ballot at a polling station near the shelter, closely monitored by the National Commission on Human Rights, on voting day for the legislative election on Wednesday
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span class="inline inline-center">Casting a ballot: An Ahmadiyah refugee from the Wisma Transito shelter in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, casts his ballot at a polling station near the shelter, closely monitored by the National Commission on Human Rights, on voting day for the legislative election on Wednesday. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
Seventy-one displaced Ahmadiyah at Wisma Transito in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, cast their votes for the legislative election at polling stations (TPS) near the shelter on Wednesday.
An election observation team from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) monitored the voting.
Halimah, 42, an Ahmadi staying at Wisma Transito, and her daughter, Natasha Januari Saputri, 6, arrived at the TPS 21 in Majeluk, Pejanggik subdistrict, Mataram, which is located across from the shelter, at 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday. She joined dozens of other displaced Ahmadis lined up to vote.
'We hope our representatives in the legislature can fight for our future. We have spent eight years in this shelter. We want a better place to live, or to return home,' Halimah told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The 71 voters are among 133 Ahmadis living at Wisma Transito after being evicted from their village in Lingsar district, West Lombok, in February 2006.
Most of the Ahmadis put high hopes on the legislative candidates they voted for. As most voters in Indonesia, Halimah said she was not familiar with legislative candidates for whom she voted.
Of those listed on four separate ballot papers, Halimah said she only knew one candidate who was running for a seat at the Mataram Legislative Council (DPRD) because the candidate once visited the shelter.
Another Ahmadi, Azizuddin, 45, said it was hoped that elected legislative candidates would be more concerned about the fate of the displaced Ahmadis.
'We hope the elected people's representatives will embrace all people without differentiating them based on ethnic, religious or racial background,' said Azizuddin.
'In the presidential election, we will vote for presidential and vice presidential candidates who really care about the rights of their people, including us. We are Indonesian citizens, but we feel that we are not yet free,' he went on. (ebf)
