Megawati rated highly despite govt's failures: Survey<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has performed better than all
\nother national political leaders currently in office, even as her
\ngovernment is deemed to be failing in delivering the goods,
\naccording to a recently published survey.<\/p>\n
More than 53 percent of 3,580 people polled said they were
\nsatisfied with Megawati's performance, compared with 51 percent
\nfor Vice President Hamzah Haz, 22 percent for corruption scandal
\nsuspect House Speaker Akbar Tandjung and 43 percent for People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais.<\/p>\n
With the presidential election two years away, the finding
\ncould be an indication of their standing today, as the four
\nleaders are the main contenders for the 2004 election: All chair
\ntheir respective political parties, the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the United Development Party
\n(PPP), the Golkar Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN).<\/p>\n
With none of the contenders holding a commanding lead, the
\n2004 election promises to be a very close contest.<\/p>\n
The survey, carried out in April by Taylor Nelson Sofres
\nIndonesia in cooperation with the International Foundation for
\nElection System (IFES) Indonesia, was commissioned by the House
\nand the MPR to test public opinion about the current political
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
That she outperformed all the other political leaders seemed
\nto be about the only good news for Megawati.<\/p>\n
The respondents virtually gave the thumbs-down when it came to
\nthe performance of her government. The majority (62 percent) said
\nthe government had not brought about any improvement, and only 34
\npercent felt there had been some progress.<\/p>\n
The 3,580 respondents were selected randomly from urban (36
\npercent) and rural (64 percent) areas in all 30 provinces, with
\n49 percent of them men and 51 percent women.<\/p>\n
IFES was one of only a few institutions that had predicted
\nthat Golkar would come second in the 1999 general election. Most
\nother surveys, because of their strong urban bias, had virtually
\nwritten off the party, which had propped up the autocratic
\nSoeharto for more than 30 years. They were wide of the mark.<\/p>\n
The survey results were compared with those from a similar
\npoll conducted in June 2001 and in July 2000.<\/p>\n
IFES said this year's survey showed that more people had
\nopinions on most matters compared with the earlier surveys,
\nsuggesting that public political awareness has risen. Fewer
\npeople answered "Don't know" or "Don't have an answer".<\/p>\n
In this year's survey, the 53 percent public satisfaction
\nrating for Megawati marks a slight increase from the 51 percent
\nshe received in June 2001, one month before she was promoted from
\nher post as vice president to replace Abdurrahman Wahid. Her 2002
\nrating was nevertheless lower than the 58 percent she enjoyed in
\n2000.<\/p>\n
The presidency, as an institution, scored highest in terms of
\nperformance compared with all other high state institutions.<\/p>\n
Just over half (52 percent) said they were satisfied, while 38
\npercent said they were not satisfied with the presidency.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to gauge whether this rating is good or not
\nfor a president who is about to enter only her second year of
\noffice. Megawati has been widely criticized for not doing enough
\nto further the national reform agenda. The criticism is growing
\nfollowing her latest two-week trip to Europe.<\/p>\n
The survey found that only 45 percent of the respondents were
\nsatisfied with the performance of the MPR, and 39 percent were
\nnot. One of the MPR's chief tasks is to amend the Constitution,
\nincluding improving the electoral mechanism.<\/p>\n
The House, which is falling way behind in its legislative
\ntask, received an even worse rating, with 32 percent satisfied as
\nagainst 52 percent dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
On the national reform agenda, more than half of the
\nrespondents (55 percent) said they were satisfied with the
\nongoing process of democratization. Only 27 percent said they
\nwere dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
Greater discontent is found in other fields however:<\/p>\n
* Law enforcement (42 percent satisfied as against 44 percent
\nnot)<\/p>\n
* Decentralization\/regional autonomy (41 percent, 33 percent)<\/p>\n
* The quest for a clean government (40 percent, 46 percent)<\/p>\n
* The battle against corruption (38 percent, 51 percent).<\/p>\n
On their welfare compared with a year earlier, 55 percent of
\nrespondents said their conditions were unchanged, 33 percent said
\ntheirs had improved, and 12 percent said they were worse off.<\/p>\n
On the security situation, 48 percent of the respondents said
\nthings had hardly changed as against 41 percent who felt there
\nhad been some improvements and 10 percent who said things had
\nturned for the worse.<\/p>\n
Asked to list the greatest problems facing the nation, 70
\npercent cited the deteriorating economy, 11 percent political
\nconflicts, followed by racial\/ethnical\/religious conflicts, lack
\nof security and legal certainty, and corruption.<\/p>\n
On immediate problems facing respondents, the high price of
\ngoods topped the list, at 55 percent, followed by difficulties in
\nfinding a job, at 18 percent.<\/p>",
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