Poll casts doubt on President's leadership

Poll casts doubt on President's leadership

JAKARTA (JP): Just two months after taking over the reins of
national leadership, observers and opinion polls are already
heaping doubt on the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid.

A poll conducted by Jayabaya University found that despite the
prevailing climate of democracy, urban dwellers had little faith
in the government's ability to bring peace and security to the
country by resolving regional tension.

Out of 2,000 respondents in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and
Makassar, 50.75 percent doubted the government could ensure
security in the country.

The survey seems to reflect a general mood in the country in
that despite fears of rising tension, an overwhelming 61.85
percent agreed that the leadership of Abdurrahman and Megawati
Soekarnoputri injected a sense of democracy back into politics.

There was also strong recognition of support in the economic
field, with almost 51 percent also feeling that under the new
government the economy was showing signs of improvement.

The poll was conducted between Nov. 27 to Dec. 20.

Separately, the Justice and National Unity Movement (GKPB) in
a year-end media conference evaluating the performance of the new
government, criticized Abdurrahman for being overly accommodative
and compromising in composing his Cabinet which as a result has
not functioned properly.

"He ignored competency and professionalism. Gradually people
have been able to see for themselves that such a Cabinet is
spending too much time just coordinating among them and not
working for their respective departments," Zulvan said.

He added that public trust and real attempts for law
enforcement could be indicators of increasing economic
development.

Zulvan said that as security became more assured, investment
would start to flow and help ease the country's economic turmoil.

He warned that if Abdurrahman did not inject consistency and
assertiveness in his presidential leadership people would slowly
lose faith in him.

"It is still hard to predict, but I'm afraid he won't be able
to survive the full term of his presidency if he is still like
this next year," he remarked. (emf)