Petra Odebrecht, German-Born Woman Makes History As Bali Parliament Candidate
Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Seminyak
For Petra Odebrecht — who will be the first foreign-born Indonesian national to contest a legislative election in the country — the question is simple: Will Balinese voters be prepared to look beyond her Western features when they open their ballots in April next year.
Oderbrech, a former German national and a candidate of the Reform Democratic Party (PDP) who is touting herself as an “ex-foreigner”, became an Indonesian citizen in 1992 after marrying her Indonesian ex-husband and leaving her home country. She has been living in Indonesia since.
“It’s a time of big change in Indonesia, and by staying seated nothing will change, that’s why I decided to get politically active,” Oderbrech said.
The PDP was created in December 2005 when senior leaders of the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) split off after a group led by Laksamana Sukardi lost a bitter fight to reform the party at its national congress.
The PDP, which operates under a leadership council rather than a single leader, is the 14th new party to register since the 2004 election.
“I joined the PDP because of its collective system, everyone there has an equal voice. Plus 42 percent of the members are women. In Bali, even with the official requirement of 30 percent quota for women, we have four women as legislative candidates and four men,” Oderbrech said.
Oderbrech has already experienced the darker side of Indonesian politics. While visiting a factory to gain local support, she was asked by workers what amount of money she would pay for them to vote for her.
“This showed me once more that I want to try to wake up especially young people to engage themselves in politics, because I believe that a nation rises and falls with its politics,” she said.
She was asked a year ago by Rusty Ambo Dalle, one of the PDP’s national leaders, to run for the party.
She said that at the time she had not had faith in the people’s desire for change and reform.
It was not until just three months ago that she compiled the necessary documents and officially nominated herself as a legislative candidate.
“The strong pluralistic direction of our party made me ask Oderbrech to join our party. As an Indonesian citizen with foreign roots she fits well into our party,” Ambo Dalle said.
“I’m well aware that my skin color and my origin are used as a marketing instrument, but I want to transform this energy into power to contribute to a democracy where everybody, regardless of his financial background, has access, too,” Odebrecht said.
The 41-year old, who has no former political background, sits in fifth place on the PDP’s eight-man cadre list to contest the Bali Provincial Legislative Council.
“I don’t know about my chances for the legislative elections but if I don’t get directly elected I will try to work as a background assistant for one of my fellow party colleagues,” she said.
Her campaign will run from March 16 to April 5, 2009.
