Over the next few weeks, South Australia will be busy holding local council elections. By the end of the second week in November, it's expected that people will have a clearer idea of who is going to represent them in the council, which is responsible for the local administration.
Local council elections traditionally don't garner much media attention, compared with state and federal elections.
However, becoming a local councillor is often the first test for any aspiring politician, and there are plenty of stories of a successful political career forged as a peoples' representative in the council.
The seamless process of holding elections, declaring oneself as a candidate, winning elections without any fraud is a norm here in Australia, and a majority of us take the entire process as granted.
However, many people in the rest of the world are still fighting for democratic rights, and for them, electing someone of their choice can end up being a dream.
Ask Puskar Poudyal, who is vying for the elected official job in Playford Council, South Australia - what does his candidacy mean?
“My aim is always to help local people by giving them a voice,” says Poudyal, who is originally from Bhutan.
“But I also wanted to exercise my democratic rights. I came to Australia from a country that has no voting rights. And now to declare my candidacy in multicultural Australia is quite special.”
The population of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people has increased in Adelaide in recent years. As well as Poudyal, two others - Kamal Dahal and Loknath Ghimire, who are also originally from Bhutan, have declared their candidacy in the upcoming election.
Dahal, who is one of the four candidates from the northern ward of Salisbury Council, is an active member amongst Bhutanese residing in South Australia. He has twice held the top job of the Bhutanese Association of South Australia and is seen around in Labor Party circles.
However, Dahal does not like being tagged as a politician. “I am here to offer my service to the community and have no interest in politics,” says Dahal, who is also a qualified nurse.
For a first generation migrant like him, Dahal admits that building a political career is not an easy task.
“First there is a language barrier. And then, everyone keeps asking when I came to Australia and how long I have been around,” said Dahal.
Both Dahal and Poudyal say they want to support the local community by raising issues such as employment opportunities, affordable services and further educational opportunities for the newly arrived community that may have a language barrier.
The youngest among these three candidates of Bhutanese background is 23-year-old Ghimire, who is vying to represent the electorate in the central ward of Salisbury Council. "I know nothing about politics. I just want to serve local people," added Ghimire, who currently is undertaking a course to become a pilot.
Poudyal says he will also ramp up his efforts to integrate different cultures with the Australian way of living.
“There is a difference between integration and assimilation. Distinct cultures can still absorb Australian values without compromising their way of living, and that, in my view, is social integration,” says Poudyal.
Poudyal’s electorate does not have a huge number of Nepali speakers. He, however, is optimistic about winning the election, by raising his profile among wider communities.
Win or lose, Poudyal has taken the first step. And it is a giant leap for someone who did not have a voting right before.
