Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

At the local level, thousands of candidates are preparing for the , Local Peoples Representative Assemblies(DPRD) elections. NIMD's Indonesian partner KID is actively involved with a considerable number of these candidates via its democracy school programme that is implemented in five regions. Many democracy school alumni are competing in the DPRD elections in their locality.

Difficult Struggle

In Malang, a city and regency situated in East Java, one of the five democracy schools is established. In February 2009, the NIMD Indonesia team met some of the female candidates who are running for the local regency elections in Malang. The female contenders shared their experiences as candidates with the NIMD.

'The first thing voters want to know when I come and visit them, is how much money I will spend on them,' said one of the candidates who runs for the PD, Partai Demokrat, President Yudhoyono's party. 'Explaining that this is not a democratic practice which is not in their best interest, is a difficult struggle.' The female candidates from all political parties in Malang are nonetheless prepared to fight these bad practices and decided to stick together. They pledged collectively not to give in to the pressures of money politics but to educate the voters instead.

Female candidates face double challenge

The female candidates face a double challenge. They are confronted with undemocratic practices and money politics at the one hand, and a predominantly patriarchal society at the other. The candidates confirmed that enhancing democracy is arduous work, yet they nevertheless do not seem to be affected by this too much.

'What I have learned in the democracy school is how to solve issues and conflicts in a democratic way and how to work collectively when necessary,' explained another of the female democracy school alumni who is also standing in the regency elections. These and other recently acquired insights empower some of the new candidates that have been involved in the democracy schools. The agreement of the female candidates to stick together in the fight against money politics, is one of the examples of a more democratic way of engaging in politics.

The increased awareness about democratic rights and good practices serve as an inspiration for many alumni that are competing in elections in a variety of ways. As one of the female candidates, also running for the PD party, put it: 'I want to ensure a better access to government policies for the people. For example, President Yudhoyono issued a new poverty alleviation program. Yet the access of people to that programme needs improvement in Malang. This is something I want to work on if I am elected in April.'

A new generation

Malang's promising candidates are not unique. The other four democracy schools that have been set-up in Indonesia over the past four years also produced considerable numbers of new, young political contenders. An average of twenty eight percent of alumni from all schools decided to run as candidates for the 2009 DPRD elections, of which a considerable number is female. These new, young politicians are determined to enhance democracy at the local level.