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ive days before the July 9 presidential election, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) published on Friday what it called Indonesia'€™s Democracy Index (IDI), showing that the country is making a transition toward a robust and stable democracy.

The survey was conducted for the fifth time by the BPS in collaboration with the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, the Home Ministry, the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The index shows that Indonesia'€™s democracy is in a state of transition, scoring 63.68 points on a 0-100 scale, a 1.05 point improvement from 62.63 in 2012.

Figures in the index are based on three aspects measured in the survey: civil liberties, democratic institutions and political rights. They are then cross-referenced using 11 variables and 28 indicators that allow democracy to be categorized as good (between 80 and 100), medium (between 60 and 80) or poor (less than 60).

BPS chief Suryamin said that the country'€™s score in civil liberties was the highest at 79 points, followed by the development of democratic institutions at 72.11 points. The score for political rights was a meager 46.25 points.

'€œWe have excelled in the development of our civil liberties and democratic institutions, while falling behind on the issue of political rights,'€ Suryamin said in a press briefing on Friday.

Suryamin also highlighted several variables that needed improving, such as the right to vote and be voted, and political participation in decision-making and oversight.

He also said that the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) and political parties should be given more roles. The index showed that each of these variables scored 54 or less.

The BPS also found that several '€œchronic'€ problems remained, including the tendency to resort to violence in suppressing freedom of speech (47.27), the accountability of the voter list (30.0), as well as regional councils'€™ initiative in drafting of regulations (20.6).

Since the first release of the IDI in 2009, Indonesia'€™s democratic performance as a whole has shown fluctuating patterns of decline. In 2013, the country scored 3.62 points less than 2009'€™s IDI of 67.3 points.

'€œThis indicates a lack of mature behavior and attitude in the public, including that of its political players,'€ Suryamin said.

However, Suryamin said that the conclusion was tentative given that 2013 was less of a political year than 2009.

In the composite index charting democracy scores at the provincial level, the 2013 results showed that 15 provinces experienced growth, while the remaining 18 experienced declines.

The BPS said the results were measured year-on-year using the median score of each province against its population rate.

Among those with the highest growth was Aceh with 9.53 points, West Java with 8.13 and Gorontalo. On the opposite side, Jakarta, West Sumatra and Lampung experienced a total decline of 6.54, 6.71 and 9.14 points, respectively.

'€œIn this case, the IDI score serves as an early warning system that is informed by various indicators, influenced by various elements of society and government,'€ Suryamin said.

Meanwhile, the UNDP'€™s head of democratic governance and poverty reduction unit, Nurina Widagdo, said that Indonesia had garnered praise for using the IDI to measure democratic progress.

'€œIndonesia is one of the best examples of how data can be implemented in real situations,'€ Nurina said on Friday.

Nurina said that Indonesia was the only country in Asia Pacific to measure democratic progress using the method, and that several countries, such as Vietnam or China, had shown interest on the back of Indonesia'€™s success.

'€œCountries should be appreciated for showing the willingness to assess themselves. The Indonesian government has been very positive in this regard,'€ she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. (tjs)