MAY 26 2009, Siti Maisarah turns the pages of a local newspaper. She reads reports on legislative election vote recapitulation thoroughly.

“Only four women are elected as Member of the Aceh Parliament (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Aceh (DPRA),” she says.

Siti herself is a legislative candidate of the citiy- and district-level parliament (Dewan (Perwakilan Rakyat Kabupaten/Kota/DPRK)) of one of Aceh local political parties, Prosperous and Safe Aceh Party (Partai Aceh Aman Seujahtera/PAAS). That day she wores a long attire for Moslem woman with black veil.

She creates a clipping on April 29 2009 Election news. She sits on her living room filled with piles of newspapers. No pictures are hanged on the wall. This simple house is located in Kampung Mulia, Banda Aceh.

In last Election, women have bigger opportunity to take part in politics yet only a handful is elected as Members of the Parliament. From 304 women legislative candidates running as candidates, only four were elected.

Three of them are from Golongan Karya Party: Nurlelawati from Election Region 2, Pidie and Pidie Jaya with 2.052 votes on third position; Nuraini Maida from Election Region 5 Lhokseumawe and North Aceh with 1.566 votes on first position and Yuniar from Election Region 6, Langsa Aceh Tamiang and East Aceh with 4.304 votes on second position. Another one comes from Liswani from National Mandate Party from Election Regional 8, South West Aceh, South Aceh and Simeulue, with 3.901 votes on first position.

Siti Maisarah is one of many women legislative candidates who fail to go to the Parliament.

It means only 0.57 per cent out of 69 2009-2014 DPRA members are women. This is way below the expectation of women’s groups that demands 30 per cent quota in the Parliament. In 2004-2009 period, 3 DPRA members were women. It is clear that the increase between these tow periods is merely one woman.

Siti still has high hopes though. She returns to her daily routines as a housewife and develops its catering and cookies business, while remaining in politics.

“Life goes on, back to daily routine, no tears to shed. Just because I have not succeeded, I will not complain. Still, politics is something I consider seriously,” she says.

For her, becoming women politicians mean having to split the time between political roles at work and a housewife.

“Most women are not ready yet. Thank God, the Aceh people are now more mature, so no turmoil occurs,” she states.

Siti does not know how many votes she obtains and she does not even bother to check on them. On the Election day she does not place any witness to monitor the votes she obtain in each ballot.

“There were witnesses, but many returned their mandate certificates. They withdrew because they were intimidated. There are many other parties besides PAAS which face intimidation,” she argues.

PAAS files reports of intimidation from the moment this party was established to the Election day directly to Aceh Independent Commission for Election (KIP). This report covers intimidation, damages on party attributes and inflation of votes done by particular parties. KIP does not respond up until now.

Siti also reads a number of newspaper reports on Election intimidation. Anfrel, an election monitoring body which plays a significant role in the Philippines post-Marcos administration, reports there are intimidations in Aceh election. Many people stand in the ballot to exert their intimidation before voters enter the ballots. Unfortunately, victims of intimidation do not wish their identities to be revealed to the public.

“For me, this is not about winning or losing. We cannot accept an Election tainted with violations,” the wife of Ghazali Abbas PAAS founder explains.

As a newcomer in political contestation, Siti admits the majority of the Aceh people are not familiar with her. On the other hand, women entered unprepared into the political sphere, now wide open for them. Parties do not prepare their legislative candidates well, the public does not open more rooms for women and the level of awareness for women voters to choose women candidates are low.

“Lack of time is one of the causal factors. Many candidates do not have an amount of time as their fellow candidates from the opposite sex. So is the amount of fund for campaign,” explains a mother of three who spends Rp 7 millions throughout the campaign.

Siti believes that as fellow human being, men and women have equal rights to exercise amar ma’ruf nahi mungkar. Women in Parliament can better identify women’s need and advocate their interest better.

She suggests that institutions which missions are to promote women’s participation in politics to provide trainings not only for women candidates but also to the general public on the importance of women in Parliament. This is to open up and develop discourses on public to vote for women. This should be done even in a non Election period.

“Expecting people to vote for women moments before Election is difficult,” she explains.

In her opinion, just like candidates of the opposite sex, there are good women candidates and there are bad ones as well.

“The reality however, even the good ones are not elected. If there are only a handful of them, the only way for them to survive would be to continuously deliver the best performance every step of the way and to network with women outside the parliament,” she argues.


THE OFFICE of Regional Council of National Mandate Party (Partai Amanat Nasional) in Lueng Bata, Aceh Besar, looks lively as the wind blows the blue flags.

Liswani, a legislative candidate from this party, succeeds in gathering votes that make her eligible to become Members of the local Parliament. Her victory is worth it. She deploys an attractive strategy by creating programs directly benefitting the women population in her area.

She graduated from Chemical Engineering from Syiah Kuala University. Her routines now are completely different from her educational background. Liswani provides education and training programs for the women to create Aceh handicrafts and hand-painted batik-like fabrics which enable them to earn extra money for the family.

“I have been active in the social development area for years. I push the people to grow in terms of economy and education,” says this Medan-born 43-year old woman. She has been involved in politics and activities in her political parties for eight years. In the last 2004 Election, she ran for candidate under the same party. Even though she pocketed the majority of the votes, she was not elected due to the unfair system used at that time.

Liswani cannot be sure whether the majority of her voters are women. What is important for them is that she gives her best shot to the people and to women.

“We cannot force people to vote for us. The most important thing is to generate better understanding on politics and to educate the public, particularly the women,” she says.

Liswani views women politicians have to be more active in doing so. Moreover, family economy is an important thing to be developed.

“How can we invite people with empty stomach to participate in politics?” she asks.


AKMAL Abzal, the Head of KIP Socialization Division, seems very busy. His mobile phone rings endlessly. He wears a brown batik shirt that day. He frequently takes off his black peci.

“Yes, today is a hot and busy day. Just when legislative election is over, the presidential one is around the corner,” he says.

According to Akmal, the public in general has not yet trust women in politics. He claims that he has done anything in his power to improve political understanding of the women candidates through various channels such as civil society organization forums hosted by regional government and parties in the Election.

Quality-wise, they have not faced the test of time. Their performance can only be evaluated in the next year or two. He is certain however, that those who dare to come forward as candidates have the nerve of steel.

“Nobody can accurately predict their level of intelligence and comprehension, because we do not really know them as they are newcomers. Let us just observe their performance in the Parliament,” Akmal says.

He was a bit upset with the comments on violations of the past Election.

“Those who claimed that the Election fails are merely chatterboxes, no action talk only,” he says.

Head of Aceh General Election Monitoring Body, Nyak Arief Fadillahsyah, claims that they has never received any intimidation complains filed by women candidate throughout the 2009 Election in Aceh.

“As long as I can remember and according to our logbook, no women candidate ever files a complaint claiming that she is intimidated,” Nyak Arief argues.

Women, he says, should be given more and more opportunities in politics.

“To avoid gender bias,” he explains.

“One thing needs to be considered is that this country belongs to all citizens, both men and women. Therefore, women should be granted equal opportunity to play their roles to improve the situation,” he explains further.

In general, Aceh’s legislative election is a peaceful event. However, Nyak Arief notes down a number of weaknesses particularly on the availability of registered voters lists and other violations in the field.

“Many cannot vote because they are not registered in the list. Those non-eligible instead received the invitation to vote,” he says.


AZHARI wears orange shirt and black pants at that time.  In the break time like this, he can finally catch his breath. He works as a substitute teacher-cum-administrative officer in a religious school in Tungkop, Aceh Besar.

Azhari admits he did not vote for women candidate in the legislative Election last April. Why? None of them comes from his kampong.

“A home-grown candidate can ensure a good mutually benefitting relationship. When we choose such candidate, he can help us out in the future,” he explains.

“It is rare for women to run for candidates. However, it does not mean that I do not trust their capacity. It is as simple as this, if one of our family members is running for candidates, we will not shift our votes elsewhere,” he adds.

To Azhari, men and women have equal opportunity and right to take part in the political arena, as long as they have what it takes to run the show.

Rukiyah M. Ali sees things differently though. He is a lecturer of Faculty of Shariah  in the Ar Raniry Islamic Institute (Institut Agama Islam Ar Raniry), Banda Aceh.

“I vote for women so they can voice our aspirations,” Rukiyah says.

She votes for women candidate from Partai Aceh because this is a local party which voices the local interests of the people, particularly women. There are many problems men cannot understand. Therefore, it is essential to put women in the Parliament.

“Just a minor example, a nursing room in the office or a child day care located nearby women’s workplaces so they can concentrate on the work and remains productive. Such important factor will surely escape the mind of men,” she argues.

She regrets to see only a few women go to the Parliament even though the opportunity is wide open.

“The reality is that women are not ready. To be leaders mean they have to guide the people, to put the interests of the people before their personal interest and to be modest,” she says.

Women who enter the political contestation should be educated so they could serve as high-quality representatives of the people.

According to Rukiyah, hundred years ago Aceh are led by a number of women leaders and they were good in governing Aceh.***


*) Mellyan is an Aceh Feature contributor in Aceh. She is a student of Faculty of Religious Teaching of Ar Raniry Islamic Institute, Banda Aceh.