Most think Megawati unfit to retain power: Poll
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A new survey supports the findings of recent research that has said Indonesians cannot clearly identify anyone suitable to lead the country after the next election.
The survey, carried out by the Center for Political Studies (CPS) of the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated polling agency, shows that the top three national leaders -- President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais -- are unfit to retain power.
It even excluded current House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for corruption, from the list of the 14 figures on offer.
The top four national figures are expected to be the strongest contenders in the first-ever direct presidential election, scheduled for 2004.
"From the findings we can conclude that we have no person eligible to become the next president," CPS executive director Sukardi Rinakit, who oversaw the survey, told The Jakarta Post after releasing it on Wednesday.
His organization's research apparently justified an earlier survey, released last week by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES), which said most of the 1,250 respondents considered no figure as being suitable to lead the country.
The CPS survey involved 9,900 respondents from 14 major cities across Indonesia: Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Medan, Padang, Mataram, Pontianak, Samarinda, Manado, Makassar and Denpasar.
The respondents, 17 to 25 years old and mostly university students or graduates, were polled through direct interviews from Sept. 11 through Sept. 17, 2002, at their respective cities.
They said Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X was the national figure with the greatest likelihood of leading the country after the 2004 elections. Second in the survey was respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid.
Hamengkubuwono won the support of 12.65 percent of the respondents, while only 11.82 percent backed Nurcholish (better known as Cak Nur), who is rector of Paramadina Mulya University.
Megawati, once the most popular nationalist leader before the 1999 elections based on the findings of past research, was ranked seventh with only 8.52 percent of the respondents in favor of her, after chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (10.83), Amien Rais (10.09), Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra (9.10) and former Indonesian Military chief Wiranto (8.54).
Hamzah Haz, also chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) -- the third-largest faction in the House -- was eighth, at 4.64 percent, after former president Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana (5.38).
Another five noted figures, Ryaas Rasyid, Jusuf Kalla, Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi and Solahuddin Wahid, received much less support from the majority of the respondents.
However, the survey said Cak Nur was the best in terms of intellectual suitability and vision as well the most honest of the 14 figures, while the sultan was considered to be the most charismatic, being the most moral and courageous when it came to decision-making.
Hamengkubuwono, Cak Nur, Syafii and Hasyim were named the national leaders with the least likelihood of engaging in corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).
Surprisingly, the survey placed Megawati, Amien and Hamzah in the same category as both Tutut and Wiranto as leaders liable to KKN.
Commenting on the survey's findings, political analyst Eep Saefullah said they showed that most Indonesians, particularly the educated young generation, were opposed to the political leaders currently in power retaining their positions.
"The survey indicates that antipolitical sentiment is on the rise at present among our intellectual elite after four years of reform.
"This could endanger the consolidation of democracy and open the door to antidemocratic or authoritarian forces to make a comeback because the current democratic state has failed to maintain the nation's political, social and economic stability," Eep said.