Military 'must be neutral' in presidency

Military 'must be neutral' in presidency

JAKARTA (JP): Half of 997 respondents in Jakarta, Surabaya,
and Medan said the Indonesian Military (TNI) should remain
neutral in the presidential elections, while many expected TNI to
take over power in case of a deadlock in the election, a survey
revealed.

The survey, announced Wednesday, was conducted by the Center
for the Study of Development and Democracy (CESDA) of the
Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education, and
Information (LP3ES).

The survey was conducted by door-to-door interviews in the
three cities between July 5 to July 31 with 997 respondents, Imam
Ahmad, the LP3ES director said.

Shobirin Nadj, the vice director, said that of the respondents
"48.4 percent of the respondents demanded the military remain
neutral in the presidential election."

A deadlock is predicted in the presidential election because
none of the parties won a majority of votes to determine the
presidential nomination.

When the poll took place in July, the two major presidential
candidates receiving broad support were Megawati Soekarnoputri of
PDI Perjuangan and President B.J. Habibie nominated by Golkar
Party.

While most respondents wanted TNI to be neutral, "15.4 percent
of respondents said that the military should support PDI
Perjuangan candidate," Shobirin said.

Shobirin also said that 37.9 percent of the respondents
believed that the military would take over power should a dead-
lock occur in the presidential election scheduled for December.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian
Military's Chief of Territorial Affairs, said that the military
had prepared a number of measures should such a deadlock occur.

TNI, he said, would uphold security and facilitate the
political elite to sit together to seek "a constitutional
solution." Observers have said TNI would likely support Megawati
given her party's victory in the poll and her conservative but
popular image.

Regarding the presence of the military in the House of
Representatives, "39.1 percent are in favor while 42.9 percent
are against military presence in the House," Imam said.

TNI has 38 unelected seats in the House.

The survey also touched on voting behavior, in which 32.8
percent said they did not vote based on their religion.

Many religious-oriented parties performed poorly in the poll.

Fourteen percent of respondents thought the parties' programs
were not interesting and another 13.6 percent found the parties'
leaders not trustable, he said.

"This should be a warning sign to the parties' leaders to be
more professional and to have more integrity, not merely selling
religious sentiments," Imam said.

The survey also reflected the unsettled controversy over
presidential candidates as 51.7 percent of respondents said the
president should come from a party with the most votes.

"Our general election does not elect a president, but there is
a public assumption that the winning party would have its
candidate elected president," Imam said.

"Fifty-three percent of respondents supported a direct
presidential election compared to 30.4 percent who were against
the idea," Imam said. (05)