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55947
Fri, 04/17/2009 - 11:02
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News Focus: ELECTIONS CAUSE FATALITIES, MENTAL DISORDERS AMONG LOSING CANDIDATES

By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, Apr 16 (ANTARA) - The provisional outcome of the legislative elections has claimed fatalities and caused mental distress among losing candidates in different parts of Indonesia.

The losers responded not only with a wrinkling of their noses but also with hostile or destructive actions and even mental disturbances.

Voters all over the country cast their ballots on April 9, 2009, to elect members of Provincial and District Legislative Council (DPRD I& II), the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and the House of Representatives (DPR).

A prospective legislative hopeful in Bandar city, identified as Sri Wahyuni (40) of the National Awakening Party (PKB) was found dead at 8 a.m in a rice field in Bangun Jaya village, Langkap Lancar sub-district, Ciamis district, West Java , on Thursday.

Langkap Lancar Police Chief Adjunct Commissioner Toto Suharyanto said the victim was found hanging from a rope from the roof beam of a house.

The victim was well-dressed, wearing a head scarf and jeans when she was found dead. Based on an examination of the victim's body, it was temporarily concluded that she committed suicide by hanging herself because there was no sign of violence on her body.

According to the victim's relatives, she was so disappointed by the result of the legislative elections because the number of votes she had collected was not what she had hoped for.

Another casualty also happened in South Aceh. Efrizal, a legislative candidate of the National Front Party (Barnas) in South Aceh, died of a heart attack in a hospital in Tapaktuan shortly after learning of his low vote tally.

Chairman of the local chapter of Barnas, Zumardi, denied reports that the death was linked to the election results.

However, frustration was believed to have prompted this legislative hopefuls to commit suicide and to die of heart attack.

Not only that, cries of dismay filled the Oebobo sub-district office in Kupang, East Nusatenggara, last week after several candidates discovered their failure to win council seats.

"I gave it all I had. I even pawned my land and house, but I didn't win enough votes to get a seat," said a candidate who declined to be identified adding that he would demand his campaign team to return the money he had given them.
Another candidate running for the Kupang legislative council articulated his disappointment by sealing off his water well, preventing neighbors from drawing water from it.

"I always did something good for them, but they didn't vote for me. So I'd much rather seal off my well and let them find out for themselves how difficult it is to find clean water in Kupang," he said.
In anticipation of losing legislative hopefuls suffering from distress, the Health Minister on Wednesday ordered the country's 32 mental hospitals to put their doctors on alert after the results of the legislatives elections had been made public.

A mental health clinic in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, treated five people -- two of them legislative candidates --for mental disorders caused by defeat in the April 9 polls.

"Failure in the elections can affect not only the person who sought to be elected but also his or her supporters or loved ones such as wife or husband, children, relatives and others who had been giving fanatical support," the head of Palangkaraya's BEJM Mentak Health Clinic, Mineini Marhaeni Rubay, said.

She said one of the two legislative candidates was admitted to the clinic on April 10 in a "deranged" mental state and had to be given emergency treatment before being sent to the Joint Adulam Ministry Foundation, a mental asylum in Palangkaraya.

Following last Thursday's polls, the legislative candidate in question was reported suddenly to behave strangely such as refusing to take baths and to eat, and laughing continuously while looking at the electoral vote tallies, Rubay said without mentioning the candidate's name and political party.

Two of the other patients had also shown the same unusual behavior and had to remain at the clinic for intensive treatment while in the remaining two cases, the sufferers only underwent mental health counseling.

Rubay said the clinic had received reports there were two other election-related mental patients in Central Kalimantan who had not been brought to the clinic. One of them was a resident of Kapuas and the other one a resident of Palangka Raya who was being treated at home.

"For patients who need intensive treatment, we have a medical staff consisting of four general practitioners, one psychiatrist, two psychologists and a number of paramedics," Rubay said.

In the meantime, the Center for Social, Narcotic and Mental Rehabilitation in Bungkanel, Karanganyar, Central Java, also admitted nine former legislative candidates exhibiting signs of mental disorder.

"The nine patients are from West and East Java. Sorry, it is unethical for us to give their identity," Supono Mustajad, director of the center, said.

Several patients frequently talked in their sleep, asking for their money back because of their failure to gain a significant number of votes. "One patient wants to become a nudist and another one keeps silent but has horrifying visions," Supomo said.

Mental disorder cases were also found in Kupang general hospital which has prepared seven extra rooms especially for the unfortunate hopefuls who failed in the elections.

Menur mental hospital in Surabaya, East Java, was reported to have allocated a special vehicle for the election. "We have dedicated one car to pick up distressed candidates," hospital director Hendro Riyando was quoted by detikcom as saying.

Indonesian Mental Health Network chairman Pandu Setiawan said those suffering from distress for their failure in the elections were mostly unfit to contest the polls in the first place.
He further disclosed that the number of losing candidates suffering from mental distress might not be as high as the government had feared.

"As long as the hopefuls are backed by their families, there is little chance they will suffer heavy mental disturbance that requires professional help," he said.



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