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Much has been said that global citizens, and not just Americans, should have the right to decide who should be the next United States president. After all, the person who is going to occupy the White House for the next four years will have a major impact on the rest of the world.

Eric Ossemig, an ex-soldier with the US Army, feels so strongly about this that he is letting readers of malaysiakini determine who he should be voting for in the Nov 2 American presidential election.

This website will carry a four-week poll beginning today to determine who among the three confirmed candidates in the keenly contested election - incumbent George W Bush (Republican), challengers John Kerry (Democrats) and Ralph Nader (Independent) - should be the next US president.

When the poll closes on Oct 15, Ossemig - who is currently living in Malaysia - will mark the top vote-getter on his own postal ballot paper.

"The US president's responsibilities were once mostly limited to handling US matters for US citizens. Not anymore. Today, we have a global economy determined by global politics," said Ossemig in explaining his reason for giving his vote to Malaysians.

"What may happen in some far-flung corner of the planet increasingly affects us all, like geo-political tectonic plates. The question, therefore, is this: In an era where US policy increasingly affects us all, why is it that only US citizens can vote for a US president who - reluctantly, or not - is an increasingly global leader? Shouldn't we all have a say in who our global leader is to be?"

Ossemig said the American president wields a disproportionate influence on international politics now that the US was the world's sole superpower.

"To that end, I, as a US citizen and a 14-year resident in Malaysia, want to offer my vote to all Malaysians so that they can vote for their next global leader. And it will be my honour to vote on your behalf," said Ossemig, a freelance writer and photographer who is married to a Malaysian.

Postal ballot

As an American residing overseas, Ossemig will be voting through postal ballot.

"I will be sent an actual 'Absentee Ballot' - my vote - which I must then return to my home county (in Arizona) by post before Nov 2. My vote will then be counted along with the general vote on Nov 2 - election day," he said.

After graduating with a degree in Geo-politics, Ossemig volunteered to serve in the US Army in 1988 for two years.

"I was a sharpshooter in the 25th Infantry 'Tropic Lightning' division, based in Hawaii. I was assigned to an all-male combat battalion (women are not allowed for ground combat).

"Our mission was to act as a security force for the Asia-Pacific theatre - 'to deter aggression, promote peace and democratic ideals'. We trained with armed forces from across Asia, including Malaysia."

Thankfully, Ossemig said he was never called into action.

"However, we were put on the highest alert when Philippine President Cory Aquino's administration was the target of a coup around that time. If the matter had not been resolved promptly, our mission would have been to drop into Subic and Clark Bases to secure them 'from hostile elements'.

After Ossemig was honourably discharged from the army - just weeks before Desert Storm in 1991 - he visited Malaysia with his parents who were then working here.

"I found nice people and nicer food and decided to stay," said Ossimig, who described himself as a bon vivant - someone who enjoys the finer things in life, especially good food and drink.

Based in Petaling Jaya in Selangor, Ossemig is a freelance travel writer and photographer for various local and international publications, including women's magazine Marie Claire and adventure travel monthly Action Asia .

First-time voter

Surprisingly, it is Ossemig's first time as far as American presidential elections are concerned. Why now? "Because apathy got me nowhere," he said.

He was particularly disillusioned after he found out that the American Constitution - the cornerstone of the American system of government - turned out to be a discriminating document.

"For example, only American-born Americans may serve as president. Too hallowed to be tampered with, this legal prejudice still stands.

"I was born in Sweden (where my father worked at the time). This quirk of fate makes me somehow a lesser American in that I can never hold my country's highest office. I'm not, as the founding fathers put it, 'a son born on native soil' - I'm not an American bumiputera," said Ossemig, who is half-Danish.

"Somehow, discovering this, on the heels of having offered to lay down my life for the same country, sparked in me a change from blind patriotism to an acute awareness of the US' perceived and actual role in the world."

Ossemig knows who he wants to be US president, but he is not telling. That decision will be left to malaysiakini readers.

So who do you want to be US president?

To vote, go to the top left side of malaysiakini homepage. To ensure that the poll will not be abused by multiple voting, we have configured it to only allow readers to vote once.

Final analysis: John Kerry gets one 'Malaysian vote'

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