People with disabilities' distrust due to physical limitations and the mindset of the community greatly affects them in participating in general elections and accessing primary services, such as education and healthJakarta (ANTARA) - People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo has asked the government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) to pay attention to the involvement of people with disabilities in the general elections, which is still low.
"I ask the government and KPU to be concerned about the issue considering that people with disabilities still have rights in general elections," he said in a written statement received on Tuesday.
According to him, the commission can conduct a census by mapping data on disabled voters and dividing it according to categories to determine election mechanisms for people with disabilities.
"Thus, those efforts are expected to be able to increase the participation of people with disabilities in the general elections," he added.
He also asked KPU to continue to update data and integrate special data collection on people with disabilities, starting from the identity to the needs of people with disabilities.
Those efforts are needed so that the provision of accessibility, services, and facilities at voting locations can be tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, he explained.
Soesatyo asked the government to educate people that disabled voters have the same rights, positions, and responsibilities as other citizens.
He also asked the community to end the negative stigma around people with disabilities.
"People with disabilities' distrust due to physical limitations and the mindset of the community greatly affects them in participating in general elections and accessing primary services, such as education and health," he said.
The MPR Speaker emphasized that the Constitution has guaranteed the political rights of people with disabilities since 2011. To this end, he asked the state to ensure their rights, especially in the 2024 General Elections, which are scheduled to take place on February 14, 2024.
The government must ensure that the 2024 General Elections are friendly to people with disabilities and other minority groups, he added.
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Translator: Melalusa Susthira, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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