Gus Dur goes on amid poor personal, government image: Poll
Gus Dur goes on amid poor personal, government image: Poll
JAKARTA (JP): A recent poll conducted in five major cities by
the Center for the Study of Development and Democracy (CESDA)
indicates that most urban dwellers are wary of President
Abdurrahman Wahid's indecisive attitude, but still believe he
will survive his presidential tenure till 2004.
"Most of the negative opinions the public hold concern his
inconsistencies, aimless talk and stubbornness," CESDA's
executive director Naning Mardiani said.
The poll was conducted between Jan. 31 and Feb. 15 in Jakarta,
Surabaya, Medan, Banjarmasin and Makassar.
It was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,247
people.
Some 73 percent of respondents regarded Abdurrahman's habit of
changing his policies as an unfavorable one for a president. They
were also divided over whether Abdurrahman's tendency to joke and
quip was a suitable for a president.
When queried about Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, most
respondents generally gave more positive responses.
More than 60 percent rejected the suggestion that she was not
intelligent. She received overwhelming support when people were
asked if she had charisma and patience as a leader.
More than 80 percent of respondents doubted the government's
ability to conclude the alleged corruption case against former
president Soeharto in the coming six months.
Despite the generally negative responses, the poll still
showed a general trust in the government, with 54.9 percent of
respondents believing the government will see out its full term.
Besides evaluating the government, the poll also questioned
respondents about the prospect of national disintegration and
civil-military and state-citizen relations.
A majority of those responding stated they did not agree with
any part of the country breaking away from Indonesia, including
Aceh and Irian Jaya.
An overwhelming 74.4 percent said they did not agree with the
proposal of turning Indonesia into a federal state.
"Most of the respondents want nationalism to be the basis of
state principles instead of religion," Naning said, adding that
this was reflective of the results in last year's general
election.
The elections resulted in the major national political parties
of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan),
the Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) finishing
as the top three parties, in contrast to religiously-based ones.
(jun)