JP/03/IFES

JP/03/IFES

39 percent do not know how to vote: IFES

M. Taufiqurrahman
Jakarta

Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may still be the
public's favorite, but a large share of votes may be invalid, a
recent opinion poll suggests.

"More than a third of respondents who will vote in the
presidential elections, or 39 percent, do not know the right way
to vote," a report of the International Foundation for Elections
System (IFES) revealed on Wednesday.

Two weeks ahead of the country's first ever direct
presidential elections, "Of those who said they intended to vote,
38 percent did not know how to vote the right way".

In its latest "tracking survey" on the public's awareness of
the elections, IFES interviewed 1,250 respondents in 31 of the
country's 32 provinces excluding the strife-torn Maluku province.

The report said that two-thirds of respondents in Java knew
how to vote. Overall, 59 percent of respondents in rural areas
did not know how to vote compared to 65 percent in the cities who
knew how to vote.

Overall 88 percent of respondents said they would probably
vote.

The report said Susilo, the former chief security minister,
was favored by 45 percent of respondents, in the belief that the
retired general could overcome a myriad of problems from
corruption to poor quality education.

The poll shows that supporters of almost all political parties
that passed the electoral threshold in the legislative election
pledged to vote for him.

For instance 45.2 percent of respondents who voted for Golkar
Party and 48.8 percent who voted for the United Development Party
(PPP) in the legislative election would vote for Susilo on July
5.

Tailing behind Susilo was Golkar candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto
with 11.4 percent.

The incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri came third with
11 percent, ahead of Amien Rais with 9.8 percent. Hamzah Haz came
last with 2 percent. Taken together, Susilo's contenders only
garnered 34.3 percent of the "votes" in the opinion poll.

The survey also showed that Susilo's popularity rose
significantly after March. His appeal soared from 10 percent in
the beginning of March to 45 percent in early June.

The same was true for Amien, with the number of supporters
doubling in that period.

In a previous IFES survey Susilo led the opinion polls at 41
percent, with Megawati a distant second at 11.2 percent.

Earlier this month, local pollster Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated
showed that 46.64 percent of respondents said they would vote for
Susilo in the July 5 election.

Managing director of IFES local partner Polling Center, Yanti
B. Sugarda, said that Susilo's ability to project a statesman-
like image had influenced the voters to vote for him. "Based on
our findings, Susilo's personality would likely play a
substantial role in garnering the most votes in the elections,
and not the efforts of his campaign team," she said.

As for Megawati, Yanti said that her failure to communicate
with the public had led to a steady decline in her popularity.