Jakarta, Indonesia – In Indonesia, nearly 10,000 people, including some from the country’s ethnic Chinese minority, will compete in Wednesday’s general election to become one of 580 members of the national parliament.

According to the Indonesian General Election Commission (KPU), there are 9,917 candidates representing 18 political parties in 38 provinces. Among the candidates are Indonesians of Chinese descent, who made up about 2.8 million of Indonesia’s then 237 million population in the 2010 census. In the more recent census in 2020, the ethnic groups were not listed.

For Chinese Indonesians, democracy has granted political rights that were once limited.

During the more than 30-year rule of Soeharto, who resigned after mass protests in 1998, Chinese Indonesians were not allowed to publicly celebrate the Lunar New Year and assimilation measures were introduced to make them more “Indonesian” and effectively segregate them To make “Indonesians”. Second class citizens. Many turned to business and the private sector to make a living after being excluded from government positions.

“Politics is not for everyone,” said Taufiq Tanasaldy, a lecturer in Indonesian and Asian studies at the University of Tasmania. “Especially for the Chinese who had to endure decades of discriminatory policies under the Soeharto regime.”

But Taufiq said interest “grew after Soeharto due to political reforms and measures to eliminate discriminatory practices,” citing equal opportunities for ethnic Chinese to run for office and vote for their preferred candidates.

“The elections or appointments of several Chinese figures as national and regional politicians have stimulated this growing interest. The visibility of their initial “success” was important for the Chinese community,” he told Al Jazeera.

Among the prominent Chinese who have entered politics is former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ah ok. He was later jailed on blasphemy charges over comments made during the election campaign and has kept a low profile since his release.

“Representation is stable and is certainly not getting worse,” said Taufiq.

But for many Chinese Indonesian votersTaufiq said: “Parties with nationalist programs are more attractive than those that promote sectarian values… especially at the national level.”

With a population of more than 270 million, almost 205 million eligible voters in Indonesia will take part in the 2024 election. The parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place just four days later Lunar New Year. February 14th is also Ash Wednesday, a holy day for Catholic Indonesians.

Despite representation, the current system of proportional representation could disadvantage some candidates who will now have to compete directly for seats.

R. Siti Zuhro, research professor of political science at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), says the open list has made it “very difficult” for some candidates to compete, compared to the previous system where the The individual candidates were more likely to receive votes for the party.

“It depends more on the parliamentary candidate [to do the work] – either their effort or their money – in implementing tactical strategies, not the party,” she told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera spoke to three Chinese Indonesians running for national parliament.

Fuidy Luckman, PKB

Fuidy Luckman is a candidate of the Muslim National Awakening Party (PKB), which supports Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar for president and vice president, as Muhaimin is its current leader.

One of the founding figures of the PKB was the late Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, who lifted the ban on public Lunar New Year celebrations during his term in office in 2000.

The 61-year-old Fuidy is originally from Singkawang in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan and moved to Jakarta to study in 1983, where he has lived ever since.

He campaigned in some of the sprawling capital’s poorest areas, meeting residents and posting videos on TikTok and Instagram.

Fuidy, who owns a timber industry company in Jakarta, urged Chinese Indonesians to attend and vote in Indonesia’s “festival of democracy.”

“We ethnic Chinese don’t have to be allergic to politics because we live in Indonesia,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Don’t ask to be recognized as Indonesian if we put that aside instead [democratic] Processes.”

If elected, Fuidy would like to pursue programs related to “justice” and “equality” — with a focus on more affordable education and health care.

Mery Sutedjo, Labor Party

Mery Sutedjo joined the Partai Buruh (Workers’ Party), whose founders include Indonesia’s various national trade union confederations.

The party is headed by union activist Said Iqbal and has not officially endorsed a presidential candidate.

Mery, who runs a housing company, says she found Partai Buruh to be the right platform to push for better social welfare and law enforcement for Indonesia’s working class, including blue-collar and white-collar workers.

Born in Medan in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, the 54-year-old moved to Jakarta more than 30 years ago to study and hopes to win a seat in the capital’s national parliament.

As part of her campaign strategy, Mery hands out her business cards to people she meets and introduces herself. She has also reached out to her family, friends and business contacts for support.

“I hope that there is a chance and opportunity for people like me – an ordinary female Chinese minority with no political experience and background – to run for office,” she told Al Jazeera.

Redi Nusantara, Perindo

Perindo Party candidate Redi Nusantara is running in Indonesia’s Central Java province.

Perindo supports the presidential couple Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD. She supported outgoing President Joko Widodo when he won his second term in 2019.

The 55-year-old, who owns a factory that makes metal racks for cables, wants to attract more foreign investment to Indonesia and develop a tax system that encourages manufacturers to use domestic products instead of imported components that enter the country through special economic zones.

Originally from the provincial capital Semarang, Redi is aimed at the country’s ethnic Chinese and business people, as well as first-time voters. He also hopes to change the minds of those who may plan to abstain.

Redi also appeared on video podcasts and spoke about entrepreneurship.

He encourages Chinese Indonesians – especially the younger generation – to get into national politics and “fix it from within.”

“All of us ethnic Chinese, especially young people, need to understand Indonesian politics,” Redi told Al Jazeera.

“Because if we, the Chinese community, do not understand Parliament, we will always be the cash cow of the Indonesian economy,” he said, hoping that greater political participation would help change the persistent stereotype that ethnic Chinese are only themselves took care of business.