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Majority of public favors direct presidential elections: Survey
Belief in democracy among the Indonesian public remains strong despite the political turbulence that dominated last year’s headlines, as reflected by a survey from pollster Indo Barometer
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span>Belief in democracy among the Indonesian public remains strong despite the political turbulence that dominated last year’s headlines, as reflected by a survey from pollster Indo Barometer.
The survey, which was conducted from Jan. 9 to 15, found that the overwhelming majority of respondents favored democratic political practices, which in theory grant the public rights such as direct elections, over practices that would revert electoral power to centralized bodies.
The report showed that 89.4 percent of the 1,200 respondents were in favor of a direct presidential election, whereas only 4.1 percent of the respondents supported an indirect election, which would effectively grant the People’s Consultative Assembly the sole authority to elect country leaders. Meanwhile, 6.5 percent of survey respondents were ambivalent on the issue.
Of those in favor of direct elections in general, 42.5 percent said they were in favor of directly electing the president and vice president specifically because it meant they would retain the right to vote and be voted for.
In contrast, of those in favor of an indirect election, 32.7 percent said they preferred such an option for the presidency because it was more likely to prevent conflict among the public. Others — 30.6 percent of the respondents — said indirect elections would be cheaper than direct elections.
The Assembly is now preparing a debate for the Constitutional amendment. The Constitution was last changed in 2002 and led to direct presidential elections and greater checks and balances on the president.
But the abolishment of direct elections is one of the issues being pushed by big political parties, including the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Gerindra Party. Both want to return to an indirect system that gives the Assembly the power to choose a president.
However, the Golkar Party, another big party in the government coalition, has joined the NasDem Party in opposing the idea of returning to the old system, which was manipulated by former president Soeharto and allowed him to stay in power for over three decades.
The Indo Barometer report also showed that the overwhelming majority of respondents reached a similar consensus on the matter of regional elections, as 88.2 percent were in favor of direct regional elections. Only 5.9 percent favored regional elections through Regional Legislative Council, while the remaining 5.9 percent remained ambivalent on the issue.
Of those who favored direct regional elections, 41.2 percent agreed they preferred to directly elect regional heads — governors, regents, and mayors — because it meant they would retain the right to vote and be voted for.
The survey results seem to have clearly illustrated where the public stands on the issue of direct elections as the government floats the idea of so-called “asymmetrical elections”.
Home Minister Tito Karnavian created controversy late last year when he suggested that the government should only hold regional direct elections in democratically “mature” provinces. Regions that were deemed prone to political instability, such as Papua, would instead host indirect elections, he said.
The Indo Barometer survey also says that 84 percent of respondents believe democracy is the best political system for Indonesia. In fact, while analysts say the quality of Indonesia’s democracy has declined in the last five years, the survey shows that public perception of democracy has strengthened from 77.3 percent five years ago.
Respondents listed freedom of speech and the ability to choose their own leaders as the two key reasons for their faith in democracy.
The strong faith in democracy explained the 80 percent voters’ turnout in the April 2019 elections, which is unusually high for any democracy, even for Indonesia, where voting is voluntary.
The public perception contrasts with that of most political analysts who say democracy is backsliding, particularly given the rising intolerance and shrinking space for various freedoms, including speech and religion.
“What the survey showed did not necessarily reflect reality,” political analyst Ujang Komarudin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “It’s very strange that a majority of the public is satisfied with democracy.”
He cited the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, which downgraded Indonesia’s democracy ranking last year, lower than neighboring country Malaysia, and described the system as “flawed”.
The Indo Barometer survey also showed a gap between the public’s faith and their expectations, with 68 percent saying they are satisfied with the current state of democracy but only 26 percent saying the system has failed to serve the people’s interests and that corruption remains rampant.
Indonesian Parliament Watch (Formappi) analyst Lucius Karus blamed the democratically elected governments for failing to live up to people’s expectations of democracy.
“The government’s failure to address the people’s interests made some people have doubts about democracy,” he said.
People have become mere bystanders in this democracy, where decisions are still being made almost entirely by the political elite, Lucius said.
The survey also showed inconsistencies between people’s awareness of the plan to amend the Constitution, which is low at just under 40 percent, and their awareness of the changes that the political elites are seeking. (mfp)
