VOA慢速英语--许多印尼年轻人或放弃大选投票

For Many Young Indonesians, Not Voting Looks Appealing

Indonesia is preparing for presidential elections. The voting will take place in two months.

Younger Indonesians are showing signs of dissatisfaction with the country’s political establishment. Many observers are worried that young people may choose not to vote in the April 17 elections.

Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok, has urged his supporters to vote. His appeal appeared in a letter that was made public shortly after his release from jail. The former governor served an almost two-year prison sentence for violating the country’s blasphemy¹ law.

Some of his supporters are dissatisfied with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi. In his letter, Ahok urged them against golput — short for golongan putih, the Indonesian term for non-voting.

Millennial² votes

It is widely believed that the word golput entered the Indonesian language in 1971, when activists³ protested elections during the presidency⁴ of Suharto. Voting at that time was hardly democratic. Suharto led the country from 1967 to 1998.

An estimated 58.9 million Indonesian voters did not take part in the 2014 elections. That compares with 48.3 million who did not vote in the 2009 elections. Those numbers come from The Partnership⁵ for Governance Reform and Association for Elections and Democracy.

Young Indonesians have become an important voting bloc⁶ in the 2019 elections. This can be seen in the rise of the Indonesian Solidarity⁷ Party (PSI), whose campaign is designed to appeal to millennials, voters under the age of 40.

Observers believe that both the campaigns of Jokowi and his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, are attempting to target younger voters. Their campaigns repeat expressions from pop culture, such as when Jokowi used the term "Winter is coming" from the television show Game of Thrones. The two candidates have also promised to defend issues of importance to millennials, such as fighting high unemployment.

Dissatisfaction with candidates

Similar to Indonesian politics in the past, the talk about golput in 2019 has been linked to public dissatisfaction with the presidential candidates.

Rivanlee Anandar is a researcher at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence. The 25-year-old told VOA that he plans to vote, but he will mark ballots⁸ for both candidates. As a result, his vote will not count.

“Why both? You can interpret it however you want, either I trust in both candidates or distrust them completely. It’s more the second option, especially on human rights issues,” he said.

Nabila Ernada, age 22, expressed similar disappointment. Ernada told VOA that she plans to vote in April because it is her duty. But she added, “I don’t really believe that my vote is really making a difference towards the political scene in Indonesia.”

Similar to Ernada, Moudy Alfiana, 23, also plans on voting. “Many people believe that the candidates are the same, but if you look at their visions, there’s also differences,” Alfiana said. But she noted⁹ that election campaign promises are no more than just that -- a promise.

Being surrounded by people who don’t plan to vote, I can understand where they are coming from, she added.

Many things make people choose not to vote, notes lawyer Alghiffari Aqsa, the former director at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute. “They may feel as if the elections don’t impact their lives or they disagree with the current political system. They may dislike the candidates or distrust the representative democratic system,” he said.

Aqsa added that although people are more open to golput as an option this year, there is still a sense of dishonor surrounding it.

“If we look at social media, there’s a lot of names that people like to call those who abstain¹⁰, from bad citizens, criminals…egoists to edgy,” he said.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

And I'm George Grow.

Words in This Story

blasphemy – n. officially confirmed as real or true

disengage – v. to withdraw; to release or free from something

disenfranchise – v. to remove the legal right of something, such as the right to vote

interpret – v. to explain the meaning of something

vision – n. the power of seeing; something seen in a dream

egoist – n. a self-centered person

1 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

2 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

7 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

8 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。