Government must tackle economic problems: Survey
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
According to a poll released on Thursday, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the government needs to seriously address domestic economic problems before it decides to venture out and become unnecessarily involved in international issues.
A poll conducted by the Alliance of New Indonesia (PIB) revealed that most respondents, or 76.9 percent of 800, wanted the government to put domestic economic recovery ahead of international issues such as the U.S. war on terrorism.
The poll also revealed that 79.8 percent of people surveyed believed the threat of expulsions and intimidation against non- Indonesians residing here, especially American citizens, would deal a blow to the country's economic recovery as investor confidence in Indonesia is reaching an all-time low.
"The threat to expel certain ethnic groups, prevents tourists from visiting Indonesia, while those already in the country prefer to return home, depriving Indonesia of necessary foreign exchange earnings," PIB said in the survey.
Asked if there was a need for members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to issue a special decree on economic recovery when they convene in November, 71.8 percent of respondents agreed, 7.8 percent disagreed and 20.5 percent said they did not know.
"The reason why they want the MPR to issue a decree on economic recovery is because they want the government to have a clear priority and policy reference in trying to revive the country's economy," PIB said.
PIB, which is headed by noted economist Sjahrir, conducted telephone interviews with 800 citizens on Oct. 13 and 14, almost one week after the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan began.
The respondents were chosen from 11 cities using systematic random sampling.
PIB said its survey results carry a reliability level of 95 percent, and sampling error of around 3.4 percent.
The interviews were conducted in Medan, Padang, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Bali, Pontianak, Makassar and Manado.