New survey favors Megawati in presidential race

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 06/23/2009 12:26 PM  |  Headlines

Megawati Soekarnoputri from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) could be the dark horse that will beat incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in the July 8 presidential election, according to a recent survey by the Indonesian Development Monitoring Institute (IDM).

The poll, which surveyed 2,047 people between June 1 and June 16, suggests that Megawati along with her running mate, Prabowo Subianto from the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), might win the first round of the election by gaining 44.3 percent of votes.

SBY from the Democratic Party and his running mate Boediono, came second in the survey with 30.43 percent, while the Golkar Party's Jusuf Kalla and his running mate Wiranto from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), were last with 13.2 percent.

"Our institution is fully independent, so I can guarantee the survey results have not been subject to political influence," IDM executive director Dwi Mardianto said Monday.

The IDM survey results contradict previous surveys held by different institutions, which reveal that SBY would win more than 50 percent of votes.

The legitimacy of those surveys was deemed questionable by experts as some institutions conducting the polls were funded by political parties.

For example, the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) acknowledged that its survey was funded by Fox Indonesia, a political consultant working solely for the success of SBY.

"There is nothing wrong with a survey institution receiving sponsorship, but I think it is unethical for an institution funded by a political party to publicly announce its survey results," Dwi said.

Dwi said that his institution's survey was funded by donations from its members from various professional fields.

"The IDM also provides consulting services, but only for companies, not for political parties," he said.

A political expert and the director of the Research Institute for Democracy and a Prosperous State (Pedoman), Fadjroel Rachman, told the conference that he fully respected the IDM's independence and its willingness to reveal the list of questions, unlike other survey institutions.

"However, we must also note that the IDM's questions had a tendency to lead the respondents to a certain candidate, and in this case it was Megawati," he said.

"For example, one of the questions asked respondents about cash aid *BLT*, which is funded by foreign loans. The questionnaire also stated that foreign loans had increased by 37 percent during SBY's term," he added.

Megawati and Prabowo have criticized SBY about his government's incentive program.

Megawati and Prabowo have also labelled SBY a neo-liberalist, attacking him for privatizing state-owned firms and taking out foreign loans.

"When respondents are faced with such a statement in a questionnaire, who do you think they will choose? Megawati of course," Fadjroel said. (hdt)

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