Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Indonesian feminists have called on the public not to vote for legislative candidates or political leaders known to be polygamous, saying they would have a skewed bias on issues concerning women and children.
"How can we expect these men, who have ignored their wives' and children's feelings, to fight for the interests of women and children (in the future)?" Yeni Rosa Damayanti, of the Indonesian Women's Solidarity, told a press conference Friday.
In a list distributed during the briefing, the name of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) secretary-general Anis Matta was among those listed as a polygamous legislative candidate. "The complete list will be available soon," Yeni said.
She added the women's group was in the middle of collecting more such names. The list will be publicly announced to make people aware about not "casting their votes for the polygamous candidates" in the April 9 elections.
Anis responded to the distributed list by saying the issue of polygamy should remain in the private realm and should not be the government's concern.
"There is no direct relationship between polygamous legislators and the way they handle their public duties," he told The Jakarta Post. "I think the people are already aware about this issue, and thus they know how to deal with it."
Anis, a legislator at the House of Representatives' Commission XI overseeing financial affairs, was upbeat that public outcries over polygamy would not be an important issue later on. "People know what issues are more important to deal with right now," he said.
Jurnal Perempuan (Women's Journal) executive director Mariani Amirudin said a survey by the journal on the issue ahead of the 2004 polls found 98 percent of 200 respondents were against the practice of polygamy.
"Polygamy lies within the domain of discrimination against women. Thus the rejection of polygamy is our struggle to eliminate this unfair treatment," she said.
She added that voting for polygamous legislative candidates at the polls could be seen as violating the law on discrimination against women.
Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) through Law No. 7/1984.
The law recognizes the existing problem of discrimination against women and provides the basis for ensuring equality between women and men.
It also ensures women's access to have equal opportunities in politics and public life, including the right to vote and to stand for election, as well as access to education, healthcare and employment.
Yeni called on the public to be more critical when dealing with political parties that were unperturbed by the polygamy issue. She said such parties would likely stay ignorant whenever there were issues on women and children that urgently needed to be addressed.
"It's time to raise the polygamy issue so that people will see it as a threat that requires immediate and firm action," she said. "People should know that for women, polygamy is as hurtful as corruption is for the whole nation."
The government is drafting the religious court on marriage bill, which states the practice of nikah siri (unregistered marriage) will be banned, while men will have to comply with more stringent requirements if they want to practice polygamy.