RSSGet to know candidates well before voting for your legislative representative, the Church is telling Indonesian Catholics ahead of the April 9 election.
“The general election is near. Therefore, Catholics need to know all legislative candidates well and seek information about them,” Father Yohanes Rasul Eddy Purwanto, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops´ Commission for Laity, told about 100 members of Jakarta parishes at a recent forum.
The women´s organization and pastoral council of St. Therese Church organized the forum, titled “How should I respond to the 2009 general election?” The church in Central Jakarta hosted the event.
“It is very important to know and recognize the capability of all legislative candidates and political parties. Hence, you will not get confused when you cast a vote,” Father Purwanto said.
The General Election Commission has approved 44 political parties, some of them religion-based, to field candidates in the election. Father Purwanto introduced the parties and explained how to cast a vote properly.
The diocesan priest acknowledged the number of political parties contesting the election is high and advised Catholics to vote for a candidate from a party that works to protect the public interest.
“Catholics should be smart and wise voters, and not be influenced by sweet talks delivered by spokesmen of political campaigns,” he said, calling for continual prayers that democracy flourish in the country. As part of this, he argued against choosing not to vote.
The Church official also called for parish priests and pastoral councils to help Catholic candidates introduce themselves as well as distribute pamphlets reminding Catholics to vote, explaining the voting process and listing Catholic candidates.
Ursuline Sister Amanda Prastiwi of the bishops´ Commission for Justice and Peace, the other forum speaker, also invited Catholics to find out about all legislative candidates, particularly those who fight for the public interest.
“As part of this nation, we need to exercise our right to vote,” she responded after a participant said he would not vote because he was unhappy with the previous legislators´ work.
The nun asked Catholics to read the letter Jakarta archdiocese sent in mid-September urging them to participate in the coming election. That letter, the first of its kind that the local Church has issued, was read out at Masses in all 60 parishes.
At the forum, Father Purwanto read out a letter in which Father Franz Magnis-Suseno expressed his personal opinion about not casting a vote, a right that every citizen has, the Jesuit scholar acknowledged.
“But they should be seriously responsible for this. If we do not cast a vote, those whom we do not want [to be legislators] will benefit from it,” Father Magnis-Suseno said. “We might not vote for the best, but we can prevent the worst.”
Maria Fransisca Wijaya from Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church in West Jakarta found the forum beneficial. “This is the first time I have joined such a forum. I am thankful,” the 56-year-old said.
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