The executive board of the Malang (East Java) branch of KNPI, the Indonesian National Youth Committee organised an opinion poll in a bold move, seeking the opinion of nearly a thousand young people in the area about their voting intentions at the forthcoming elections. 92.4 per cent answered that they would support 'Golput', in other words boycott the election. Only 5.4 per cent said they would vote. The people asked were students, youths and members of a number of youth groups.

A local activist said this shows a reversal of what has happened in the past, that young people whose parents are civil servants or members of the armed forces all vote for the government party, GOLKAR.

The organisers of the poll said the poll had been deliberately targeted at young people who are in a position to influence the opinions of others.

The results showed that 874 of the one thousand people who answered said they would boycott while only 51 or 5.4 per cent said they would go and vote. The questionnaires were circulated through a number of youth groups in the area.

The organiser of the opinion poll said the results show that young people are not willing anymore to follow the lead of their parents. 42 per cent of those asked were children of civil servants, who are all under instructions to vote GOLKAR, and more than ten per cent were the children of members of the armed forces.

It was clear, he said, that young people have no interest in any of the three parties allowed to contest the elections.

The results of the poll will be given to the three local parties and it was up to them to respond in a way that might arouse greater interest from young people.