Survey reveals ABRI's poor public image

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)