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Personalities win over performances in Jakarta election, research says
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Former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan, one of the candidates in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, takes a group photo with other candidates during a break from a mandatory medical examination on Sept. 24. (Courtesy of Instagram/-)
T
he public cares about the personalities of the candidates in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election more than their performances, according to research released on Tuesday.
The research conducted by Riset Indonesia showed that candidates' personalities are what people care about the most, Riset Indonesia executive director Toto Sugiarto said. The purpose of the research, he said, was to find out what people prioritize in choosing a candidate.
Riset Indonesia polled two criteria of gubernatorial candidates, personalities and performances. The results revealed that 76 percent of people usually evaluate gubernatorial candidates based on their personalities while the remaining 24 percent base opinions of candidates from performances.
There were nine categories in the personalities portion of the research. Sociability scored the highest with 30.77 percent followed by cleanliness (15.38 percent), politeness (11.54 percent), humaneness (5.77 percent), firmness (5.77 percent), pro-education (3.85 percent), experience in administration (3.85 percent), democratic leadership (3.85 percent) and "other" making up the remaining percentage points (19.22 percent).
"More than 30 percent of people surveyed show sociability is a priority for them in electing government officials," Toto said as quoted by kompas.com.
However, the result did not demonstrate that personalities were a determining factor in the election, Toto said attributing the survey results to how the media discusses the candidates' personalities more frequently than their performances.
The performance research was divided into four categories, a candidates ability to improve economic performance received the highest score of 50 percent followed by a candidate's ability to solve issues (25 percent), work ethic (18.7 percent) and manage security issues (6.3 percent).
There are three pairs in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election: Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and Sylviana Murni as well as Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno. (rin)
