Asia Foundation democracy survey
Asia Foundation democracy survey
The Jakarta Post has twice referred to The Asia Foundation
survey, Democracy in Indonesia: A Survey of the Indonesian
Electorate 2003. While we strongly appreciate your coverage, we
regret that the Post has made a narrow reading of the survey that
emphasizes only one finding: That Indonesian voters long for a
strong leader (first covered in the Post on Dec. 9, 2003, as
Voters hope for strong leader, survey finds). More importantly,
while presenting the finding you left out the Foundation's own
analysis of this finding. We feel compelled to write about this
issue as we see the Post has continued to use its interpretation
in a subsequent article (the Post, Dec. 23: Polls to disappoint
reformists).
The claim, "the majority of people eligible to vote in this
year's general election here are politically alienated,
intolerant and hoping for a strong leader like former dictator
president Soeharto", is not the main message our survey delivers.
We see this as a selective reading of the survey that ignored an
extremely important analysis of this finding, which should
probably be seen as a repudiation of what is perceived as
ineffective governance, not of democracy itself.
It would not be correct to associate the finding with a desire
to return to Soeharto's repressive dictatorship. Our cross-
tabulations indicate that support for decisive government is
stronger among those who strongly support democracy.
Moreover, your reading of the survey completely ignored the
overwhelming optimism that Indonesians feel about the upcoming
election. Our survey suggests that while Indonesian voters are
critical of their leaders and institutions, they have gained
confidence that elections make a difference, and still want to
participate in massive numbers. Today, more Indonesians associate
democracy with elections than they did four years ago.
Your continued narrow interpretation of our survey does not
reflect the actual popular mood in Indonesia. We kindly ask you
to refer to the results of The Asia's Foundation 2003 Survey on
the Electorate in a more comprehensive manner, and resist the
urge to be pessimistic about democracy in Indonesia.
SANDRA HAMID
Election Program Manager
The Asia Foundation
Jakarta