Akbar trails behind Prabowo: Poll
Kurniawan Hari and Ainur Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya
The Supreme Court's controversial verdict clearing Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung of graft appears to have done little to restore his popularity among the party faithful ahead of the Golkar national convention, a recent survey has revealed.
The survey of party members, conducted jointly by the London- based Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) and its Jakarta partner, the National Leadership Center (NLC), ranked Akbar third among the party's possible presidential candidates behind Prabowo Subianto, a former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).
Prabowo, who is married to a daughter of former president Soeharto and is widely believed to have been involved in past intrigue and rights abuses, won the support of 34 percent of the respondents, with Akbar in a distant second with 13 percent. Former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto was third with 11 percent, followed by Jusuf Kalla (3 percent), Surya Paloh (1 percent), and Aburizal Bakrie (less than 1 percent). The remaining respondents (26 percent) preferred other candidates.
Golkar is scheduled to shortly hold a national convention to elect its sole presidential candidate. Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X have withdrawn from the contest on ethical grounds.
"The results of this survey are surprising. Why is Prabowo garnering the most support? Possibly, it's because of his leadership skills," NLC co-founder Taufik Bahaudin told a press briefing here on Tuesday.
The survey involved 182 respondents who said they were Golkar supporters. The error of margin was estimated at 7.3 percent.
The survey was part of a wider survey on Indonesian voters' presidential preferences, which put former senior security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on top.
Separately, Kalla, who is the coordinating minister for people's welfare, was confident he could win the votes of more than 220 Golkar regency/municipality branches.
"I will not quit the convention. I believe I will get support from regency/municipality branches in eastern Indonesia, Sumatra, and East Java," he said on the sidelines of his ministerial visit to Surabaya on Tuesday.
Kalla suggested that the convention's organizing committee remain calm in response to moves by Wiranto and Surya Paloh to gather together the leaders of party regency/municipality branches for private meetings.
Golkar officials suspect that such meetings could lead to bribery and other unsavory practices, thereby tarnishing the image of the convention.
During the event, to be held at the Hilton Hotel in Central Jakarta, all six candidates will be required to briefly explain their programs before the electors, who will comprise leaders of the party's central board and regional branches, as well as representatives of its affiliated organizations.
Meanwhile, the rector of Semarang-based Diponegoro University, Eko Budihardjo, said Akbar would visit the university on April 26 for a debate with the presidential candidates of a number of other parties. During the debate, they would be required to explain their policies to the university's academic community.
Eko called on students to refrain from organizing rallies on campus while the debate was taking place.
"It would be OK if the rallies were held off campus," Eko said, adding nevertheless that students should concentrate on questioning the presidential candidates about their policies during the debate rather than demonstrating.