Written by MIjelina Oliveira da Costa
“When he arrived in the voting station to cast his vote, people tell him “why do you need to vote? Why don’t you go and do your thing? But Apolinario responded to them “yes I am sick, but I still know how to choose a candidate according to my preference”.
Not to discriminate, leave no one behind is a jingle words against discrimination, how to treat others equally, and promoting inclusive rights in a democratic nation.
Every 5 years Timor-Leste conducted election as part of a democratic process and in this process every citizens have the same rights to vote consciously for a political party or vote for a candidate, through presidential or parliamentary election.
Citizen journalist conducted interviews with psychosocial disable citizens that participated in the previous election, and they have participated in the election with the assistance of their parents. Maria Auxiliadora Soares Pinto, age 27, is one of them. She is form Baucau municipality, Bahu village. She said that she recuperated from her psychosocial condition and she managed to participate in the 2022 presidential election.
Auxiliadora have cast her vote like other citizens. She has vote to the candidate that she believed to represent her concern. But in the voting station people still called her “crazy and dumb”, they were not considered her as a voter, even though her vote count like any other vote.
Auxiliadora has high hope, because she wants to participate in the upcoming election. So she calls to the government to provide accessible voting station, braille voting paper for those with vision impairment, so that people like her can vote by their own. She also asked to other citizens for not stigmatize people with disability because they just same like others that have no disability concern.
“I would like to ask people to use respecfull words to call us, and I want to ask people who don’t know how to use proper term for specific disable citizens to come together with us to learn and share with other so that they can use proper term when addresing us”, said Auxiliadora.
Auxiliadora got her treatment from PRADET and she has recuperated from her illness and she is now able to do things like other young people.
On the other hand, Apolinario Soares de Deus, from Ermera Municipality also provided interview to the citizen’s journalist he said that he has been suffer psychosocial illness since 2004 and he is right now in ongoing therapy and on medication. According to Apolinario, many times he faces discrimination in her community and also within his family. They called him crazy and they do not even concern with his illness.
“When my sickness got worse, my relatives and friends are stay away from me. They don’t even provide me food, but I am still do the work to help them, like collecting fuel wood, or help with house construction work. I feel deeply sad when they treat me unrespectfully”, Apolinario expresed his concern.
Apolinário also got discriminated when he went to organize his electoral card. They told me that “faces like me does not need a electoral card and no need to vote”. I heard it clearly but I took no action against them”.
This situation continues to happen in the voting station. When he arrived in the voting station people told him that “why do you need to vote? Why don’t you go and do your thing”. But Apolinario responded to them “yes I am sick, but I still know how to choose a candidate according to my preference”.
Apolinario managed to go into the voting cabin and cast his vote but some people who observed the election still bullied him. He went back home with sad face and thought about his vote that other people disvalued.
Apolinario is now happy because he was accepted to do volunteer work at ADTL. He thinks that he have joining forces to fight for the right of people with disability. He is also learning important stuff to move forward. He called upon the government to provide safe space for people with disability to participate in the upcoming election. He would like to see people with various type of disability can go to voting stations easily and cast their vote secretly.
People with psychosocial disability have shown that they are keen to participate in the election. Their keenness was not met with good support from their own family, community and also public. A Team Leader of Mental Illness Support Services (PAMM), Nicolau Vicente Soares stated that participation of people with disability in the election is really low because they only get the support from their families, not from the electoral governing body. Even family do provide support but they still have concern about the risks facing by community with the presence of mental illness voters, therefore, family often choose not to bring them to vote in the election.
These are barriers that psychosocial disable citizens are facing when it comes to election. Nicolau has real data from their work in regards to election participation by psychosocial disable citizens.
“Our data is showing that in the last election, May 2018, those that come to get our services at the Center for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, which is about 21 of them, only 7 of them vote in the election, 3 women and 4 men. All seven of them are recovered from their psychosocial illness”, Nicolau explained.
According to PRADET the total population of people with disability is 34 thousand and from this data 3% of them are those with psychosocial disability and they lives across all municipality. PRADET registered 1,787 people that need psychosocial support, with the average age between 25 – 45. It has provide medical services to mental illness citizens to support their cognitive development, and it has been working in seven municipalities, in Aileu, Ainaro, Dili, Atauro, Liquisa, Baucau and Manufahi.
The Association of People with Disability (ADTL) also echoes concerns over the participation of people with disability in election. The Director of the Association, Cesario da Silva observed that majority of people with disability participated in the election because local authorities and political parties encourage them. In some cases people with disability themselves were making effort to exercise their right.
“In Presidential Election’s law, people with aggressive psychosocial disability are not allowed to participate in the election. But in the general election, the law allowed those that recovered from their illness could exercise their rights, including those that in ongoing treatment. However they may need to be accompanied by their family member”, said Cesario.
In terms of number of people with disability that participated in the election, Cesario cannot provide exact data. He knows that total number of people with disability is about 38 thousands and within this number 25 thousand of them are in productive age group. But he cannot really tell how many people with disability are actually vote in the election and he said that the association is trying to work with Ministry of Justice and STAE to provide electoral card.
“ADTL works with Ministry of Justice and STAE to facilitate the provision of electoral cards to the people with disability. This is not as easy as it said because the process takes a long time and people who suffered psychosocial disability since they were children may not have all the necessary document”, Cesario explained further.
ADTL have asked the Ministry and STAE to consider that condition. Also requested their support to the people with disability so that they can also exercise their rights like others. ADTL have also communicated and encourage family of people with psychosocial disable persons to support them to organize their electoral card.
“We have challenging information regarding number of people with disability that actually voted in the previous election but we do know that population of people with disability is 38,000 and 25,000 of them in their productive age and in their voting age”, Cesario explained.
ADTL asked all citizens for not discriminating, stigmatizing people with disability. Also asked government to provide assistance and accessible services during election.
In relation to the concerns raised by people with disability orgnizations, the General Director of STAE, Acilino Manuel Branco, replied by saying that the electoral system is inclusive, and everybody have the same oppurtunity for all citizens citizens with no exclusión of their conditions. With this electoral concept we would like to ensure participation of all citizens by providing civic education, electoral education so that they all can exercise their rights appropriately.
“STAE and CNE always promote civic education and electoral education to all citizens particularly eletorates that joing the electoral process. We know that people need to be sensible and conscience when they vote and their vote determine the future of the nation. So each citizens need to ensure that he or she execise their rights in the correct way and for this to happen we helped them with voter education,” says Acilino.
Acilino also explains that in past election, staff of STAE provided assistance to the electorates, including electorates with disability through voter education so that they can make the right choice in electing their candidates and political party.
People with disability and advocates for the rights of people with disability mentioned early that there is no secrecy when people with disability vote in the election. For this concern the General Director explained that the law allows people with no disability issue can assist the visually impaired citizens to vote for candidate or political party. In the future this system need to be improved further so that people with disability can exercise the voting rights in democratic manner.
STAE as the electoral administrative body will work together with disabled people’s organizations such as RHTO, ADTL and other international partners to provide capacity building to people with disability to prepare better for upcoming election.
“We have work together to do research for locating áreas where people with disability lives, with that we will develop plan to ensure that they would able to vote in the coming election. We also work on legal procedures, regulations, and law that can facilitate the electoral administrative body to do its work in supporting people with disability,” added Acilino.
This preparation process is not only in the hand of STAE but we will do that work together with disabled people’s organizations, and international agency such as UNDP. Training certainly needed and also voter education so that once accesibility issues resolved people with disbaility can vote acordingly. STAE also doing its work to identify villages where people with disbaility lives is ongoing and type of disability, number disable people in the área. This information allows STAE to better plan and identify any supporting instrument and infraestructure that support to increase the participation from people with disability in the coming election.
