Media boosts Susilo's win: Experts

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The likely victory of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the presidential poll confirms the significant role the media plays in the country's politics, experts say.

With over 101 million ballots counted, the Susilo-Jusuf Kalla ticket remained on top with 61.1 percent of the vote by 10 p.m. Wednesday, compared to opponent Megawati Soekarnoputri and running mate Hasyim Muzadi's 38.8 percent.

I Gusti Ngurah Putra, head of Gadjah Mada University's school of communication studies, said on Wednesday that Susilo's campaign team managed to use the media more effectively than Megawati's.

"Susilo's team is better at managing the media, some of which support the ticket either openly or secretly, than Megawati's team," he told The Jakarta Post.

Megawati had not assigned any media spokesperson for her campaign, an illustration of how she had neglected the media while trying to maintain her popularity since the 1999 election, he said.

"The media started to attack her policies after she took power and there was no one (in her administration) to counter it. This was not good for her popularity, particularly before a direct election," Ngurah said.

However, he said Susilo's apparent landslide victory could not be attributed solely to the media.

Ngurah said only a minority of Indonesia's more than 220 million people regularly read serious newspapers and magazines, mostly those in big cities, although broadcast media penetrated most regions.

"The role of the media (in how people vote) is limited. They only strengthen the preference of voters," Ngurah said.

He said person-to-person communication was likely to have played an important role in Susilo's victory.

"The Susilo-Kalla ticket won in Papua, Aceh, Central Sulawesi and other remote rural areas. Do the people there have access to (sophisticated) media?" Ngurah said.

Triyono Lukmantoro of the Diponegoro University school of communication studies said Susilo's achievement confirmed the declining influence of political parties.

"The media have taken over the position of political parties, whose role continues to decline in social life here," he said.

Susilo, who was from a small new party, defeated Megawati who was backed by the vast political machinery of established mainstream parties like her Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and Golkar, he said.

Triyono said Susilo had not only benefited from an incumbent, whose policies were not popular, his victory was also due to effective image-making, which portrayed him as a calm, smart and polite leader.

Susilo had managed to maintain this image despite personal criticism leveled at him early on in the campaign from Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas, he said.

Taufik labeled Susilo, Megawati's former coordinating minister for political and security affairs, a childish four-star general for complaining that he was not consulted on several important military policies. The comment backfired and the public ended up sympathizing with Susilo, Triyono said.

Triyono and Ngurah agreed that nothing, including the influence of powerful media or excellent image-makers, could boost the popularity of a candidate if their performance was poor.

"Many voters who did not follow politics in the media did not vote for Megawati because of her unpopular policies that had made them suffer," Ngurah said.

Triyono said a good performance was the most potent way to attract voters.

"No matter how much make-up you put on your face, people will not vote for you if you can't perform.

"Presidents must be able to deliver on their promises to improve people's welfare, otherwise the people will reject them," he said.