Jakarta – A recent poll conducted by the Center for Electoral Reform showed the majority of Indonesians supported direct presidential elections. Nuri Soeseno of Cetro said on Wednesday the poll showed 72.6 percent of 1,998 respondents in five cities – Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Makassar and Pontianak – favored direct presidential elections.

Similar results were obtained by polls conducted by Tempo (June and October 1999), Kompas (July 1999), Gatra (September 1999), Pikiran Rakyat (April 2000) and Media Indonesia (June 2000).

Despite the support for direct presidential elections, 56.9 percent of poll respondents failed to say who they would support for president. Of the other 43.1 percent of respondents, 12.7 percent said they supported Megawati Soekarnoputri for president; 9.2 percent named Amien Rais; 5.7 percent B.J. Habibie; 3.7 percent Nurcholish Madjid; 3.6 percent Yusril Ihsa Mahendra; 1.7 percent Abdurrahman Wahid; and 1 percent each named Try Sutrisno and Akbar Tanjung.

Despite the low number of respondents naming President Abdurrahman Wahid as their preferred candidate in a direct presidential election, 54.8 percent of respondents did not want him replaced before 2004."This shows the people are more concerned about developing the system rather than just supporting a public figure," Nuri said.

The polling was conducted in May and June, with direct interviews of 1,998 respondents in Jakarta; Medan, North Sumatra; Surabaya, East Java; Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Pontianak, West Kalimantan.