Poll shows students' choice of president

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A small-scale polling held at Gadjah Mada University showed that 39.1 percent of student respondents want to have a president with an "intellectual background".

The poll organizers, from the School of Economics and the Law School, sent out 500 questionnaires to students in 18 faculties at the university. Some 471 forms, or 94.2 percent, were returned to the organizers.

Held between Aug. 12 and Sept. 10, the poll showed that the respondents believed the next president should be elected from among politicians (18.3 percent), activists of non-governmental organizations (13.4 percent), technocrats (8.9 percent), literary figures (7 percent), bureaucrats (6.3 percent), and business people (4.1 percent).

The students also said they wanted leaders who were devout, democratic, populist, just, open, anti-corruption, willing to be criticized, visionary, and who were not nepotistic.

When asked whether they had any candidates in mind, the students gave a long list of names, including Moslem scholar Amien Rais (19.6 percent), State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie (10.5 percent) and Vice President Try Sutrisno (9.3 percent).

The university students have frequently held similar polls on various political issues.

In the past there have been student polls that experts, including Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, have criticized for lack of scientific rigor. (23)