Voters hope for strong leader, survey finds

Voters hope for strong leader, survey finds

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The majority of people eligible to vote in next year's general
election here are politically alienated, intolerant and hoping
for a strong leader like former dictator president Soeharto,
according to a survey.

At least 65 percent of adults surveyed from June through until
August 2003, said that they did not like politics at all because
of widespread political corruption and poor political education.

People's interest in politics, however, had improved from 28
percent in 1999 to 38 percent in 2003.

The survey, titled Democracy in Indonesia: A Survey of the
Indonesian Electorate 2003, was conducted through direct
interviews and group discussions involving 1,056 eligible voters
in 32 provinces, with a margin of error of around 3 percent.

Indonesia will hold a legislative election in April 2004 and
first-ever direct presidential election in July. At least 24
political parties have been declared eligible to contest the
elections, down from 48 in 1999.

The survey, which was conducted by Charney Research of New
York and AC Nielsen Indonesia and commissioned by The Asia
Foundation, suggested that the majority of voters were intolerant
of political parties.

On the question: "Do you think that all political parties,
even the ones most people do not like, should be allowed to hold
meetings in your area?," the percentage of voters who answered
"yes" eroded from 70 percent in 1999 to 57 percent this year.

The decline reflected continued concern about violence and
political conflicts.

The survey said that older and illiterate voters, who were
mostly living in rural areas, were less tolerant than younger and
educated voters.

Last month, supporters of the ruling Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were involved in a clash with
supporters of the Golkar Party in Buleleng, Bali. Two Golkar
Party supporters were killed in the clash in the province
considered to be a stronghold of President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's PDI Perjuangan.

The survey indicated that voters were intolerant of minority
groups also, 40 percent of the electorate were willing to vote
for women, 8 percent would vote for Chinese candidates and only 6
percent would vote for candidates who were former political
prisoners.

The Majority of the voters (66 percent) opposed the ban on
former members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) from
running for the House of Representatives, while 18 percent were
still in favor of the ban.

Former PKI members have been banned from exercising their
voting rights since the 1960s, following a failed coup d'etat the
government blamed on PKI.

And four years into the so-called reform movement, the survey
revealed that the majority of Indonesians favored a decisive
government that could restore order, even at the cost of freedom.

It also said that 53 percent of the voters preferred a strong
leader like former authoritarian Soeharto, even if rights and
freedom were reduced.

About 58 percent of those who supported a stronger government
at the expense of rights and freedom had an educational
background of high school or more, the survey said.

Many earlier surveys showed that people's expectations of the
return of "a normal situation" -- like what happened during
Soeharto's regime when security and prices could be stabilized --
had failed to be realized, which was blamed on the current
government.

The recent nomination of Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti
"Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana by the Concern for The Nation
Functional Party could revive the New Order and is said to be
aimed at responding to the people's expectations.