Survey reveals ABRI's poor public image

JAKARTA (JP): After a recent storm of public condemnation over past alleged human rights violations, the Armed Forces (ABRI) took another blow on Monday when an independent survey found its public image wanting.

The poll, titled ABRI and the People, was conducted by the Center for the Study of Development and Democracy (CESDA), a body linked to the respected Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES). It questioned face- to-face 1,000 people in Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra and the East Java capital of Surabaya from Aug. 13 to Aug. 28.

Twelve questions posed covered, among other things, ABRI's dual role, police separation from ABRI, the military taking government positions like governors and regents, and ABRI's image.

On the question of image, 46.5 percent of the respondents said they did not believe ABRI was really protecting the people, compared to 39.1 percent who believed it was and 14.4 percent who abstained.

As many as 50.2 percent said they did not believe "ABRI and the people are one" as the military has trumpeted over the years; 42.6 percent said they believed ABRI was united with the people, while 7.3 percent said they did not know.

"The image is negative," Rustam Ibrahim, LP3ES director, who supervised the survey, said at his office. Accompanying him at the media conference were chief researcher E. Shobirin Nadj. and researcher M. Husain.

So low was the public's confidence in the military, CESDA pointed out, that when respondents were asked about the position the military often took when facing street demonstrations, labor strikes or evictions, they said ABRI often did not side with the people.

The study showed 56.1 percent said ABRI always took the side of the owners. Only 23.3 percent said ABRI tended to be neutral when dealing with such cases, while 8.2 percent said ABRI backed the people.

To cap its survey on ABRI's public image, CESDA asked whether the respondents felt any sense of belonging regarding ABRI.

The finding was that 20.7 percent of the respondents said they were still proud of ABRI. The majority, 59.9 percent said they felt "just so so" and 16 percent said they had no pride at all in ABRI. CESDA also gauged how respondents viewed the debate about separating the National Police from ABRI.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they wanted ABRI to be separate from the police, while 24.9 percent they did not agree with the idea.

"The higher the education level of the respondents the more they wanted the police to be separated from ABRI," Rustam said, adding that all respondents with a military background supported the separation.

The respondents were 500 men and 500 women: 22.7 percent were below 25 years old, 32.2 percent between 26 and 35, 24.9 percent between 36 and 45, 12.8 percent between 46 and 55, and 7.4 percent were older than 55.

On respondents' education level, a majority (46.2 percent) were senior high school graduates, 16 percent junior high school graduates, 15.4 percent elementary school graduates, 13.2 percent university graduates and 9.2 percent undergraduates.

The survey claimed a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent and a reliability level of 95 percent.

"This means that if a similar survey is conducted again in the three cities, there is a 95 percent chance that it will be of the same result -- with only a 3.1 percent chance of error," Husain said.

CESDA revealed a "split finding", however, on the public's perception of ABRI's long-retained dwifungsi, a 40-year-old doctrine that justifies the military's role in politics.

It said 74.3 percent of all respondents wanted ABRI to only have responsibility for defense and to be professional without meddling into the country's political affairs. Only 17.4 percent agreed ABRI should retain its dwifungsi.

Here, CESDA concluded, the higher the education level of the respondents the more they wanted dwifungsi scrapped.

The "split finding" was that 60 percent of respondents said they still wanted ABRI to be represented at the House of Representatives, the very manifestation of ABRI being active in politics.

"One thing that we must also bear in mind is that these are findings in cities where people are less repressed by the military. So there could be a great difference if the survey was conducted in Aceh, East Timor or Irian Jaya," researcher Shobirin said. (aan)