Wanted: A credible president<\/p>\n
Good leadership is important, particularly at a time of an
\nacute national crisis. Is Indonesia undergoing a leadership
\ncrisis? The Jakarta Post and the D&R news magazine commissioned a
\npoll to find out what people think about the issue.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A resounding majority of people believe
\nIndonesia has a leadership crisis, a new survey says.<\/p>\n
The poll, involving 1,250 people in five cities, however found
\nthat many people believe that one or two existing public figures
\ncan rise to the challenge and become the next president of the
\ncountry, if given the chance.<\/p>\n
Their idea of national leaders are those found outside the
\npresent government structure: Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien Rais,
\nAbdurrahman Wahid and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X fill the top four
\nslots as most favorite leaders. President B.J. Habibie is fifth.<\/p>\n
The survey was conducted by the Resource Productivity Center
\nin Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Padang and Medan. The 250
\nrespondents in each of the five cities were selected at random,
\ncomprising 65 percent men and 35 percent women.<\/p>\n
Nearly 74 percent of the respondents agreed that there is a
\nnational leadership crisis. Most pointed to the slow pace of
\nreform, and Habibie's failure to accommodate the people's
\naspirations, as their main reasons.<\/p>\n
Of the 25 percent who rejected the idea that there is a
\ncrisis, 41 percent said many figures with the potential to lead
\nhave not been given the chance. More than 26 percent who said
\nthere was no crisis however insisted that Habibie is a legitimate
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Although the poll results reflect the low public opinion of
\nHabibie's leadership, 48 percent believe that the President
\nshould be allowed to complete his term until he has organized
\nboth a general election and a presidential election next year.<\/p>\n
Only 44 percent believe that the four \"Ciganjur leaders\" --
\nMegawati, Amien, Abdurrahman and Hamengkubuwono, who met at
\nAbdurrahman's residence in Ciganjur last month -- should form a
\ntransitional government and take over from Habibie.<\/p>\n
Megawati is the chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) Perjuangan and daughter of Indonesia's first president
\nSukarno; Amien led the reform campaign to force Soeharto to
\nresign in May and now chairs the People's Mandate Party (PAN);
\nAbdurrahman is a known prodemocracy leader and chairman of the
\nmassive Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization: Hamengkubuwono is
\nthe nationally respected ruler of the Yogyakarta sultanate.<\/p>\n
Habibie, who has led since May, is Indonesia's third president
\nsince independence in 1945. Although serving as a transitional
\npresident until a successor is democratically elected next year,
\nhe has not ruled out running for the post.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's first two presidents, Sukarno (1945-1966) and
\nSoeharto (1966-1998), governed this huge archipelago with iron
\nfists, albeit in very different styles.<\/p>\n
This raises the troubling question whether it would have been
\npossible for them to keep such a diverse nation united without
\nresorting to the use of force and intimidation. Can any
\ndemocratically elected leader keep the country together without
\nbeing constantly dogged by opponents? While Soeharto's downfall
\nhas raised some hopes, history is not on Indonesia's side.<\/p>\n
Most of the respondents (65 percent) hold out the hopes that
\nthere are people capable of leading this country, but that he or
\nshe has not yet emerged largely because of the repressive
\npolitical system (61 percent) and because of the constant
\nintervention of the Armed Forces in politics (32 percent).<\/p>\n
Of the 34 percent respondents who took a pessimistic view
\nabout the ability of anyone to lead the nation, 51 percent said
\nnot a single existing public figure fulfilled the criteria for
\nbecoming national leader, and 24 percent even said existing
\nleaders are only hungry for political power for themselves.<\/p>\n
When asked to name two qualities most important in a leader,
\n\"integrity and trustworthiness\" came top, followed by \"popular
\nsupport\", \"wise\" and \"visionary\".<\/p>\n
\"Intelligence\", \"able to motivate others\" and \"piety\" were not
\nrated too highly by respondents.<\/p>\n
When asked to name and rate the figures that come closest to
\nthe requisite qualities of a national leader, Megawati heads the
\nlist with 44 percent, and Amien Rais is second with 31 percent.
\nHamengkubuwono, Abdurrahman and Habibie are third, fourth and
\nfifth.<\/p>\n
The poll asked respondents about the leadership strengths and
\nweaknesses of the four Ciganjur figures.<\/p>\n
Megawati's main weaknesses include her being a political
\nnovice and a female, while her main strengths are her widespread
\nsupport, her charisma and wisdom.<\/p>\n
Amien's chief weaknesses are that he is seen as too ambitious
\nand lacking in principles, while his main strengths are his
\nintelligence and his image as a champion of reform.<\/p>\n
Hamengkubuwono's main drawbacks are his image as a provincial
\nfigure and that he lacks widespread support; his strengths are
\nthat he is a simple and popular figure, and has charisma and
\nwisdom.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's main weaknesses are his ailing health and, like
\nAmien, his lack of principles; his strengths are the widespread
\nsupport he enjoys, and that he has charisma and wisdom.<\/p>\n
The majority of the respondents agreed that Indonesia's next
\npresident should be elected directly by the people, rather than
\nby the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as has been the
\npractice all this time and mandated by the constitution.<\/p>\n
On many of the questions, the respondents were allowed to give
\nmore than one answer, thus some of the given answers exceeded 100
\npercent. The results have a five percent error margin.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wanted-a-credible-president-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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