Jakarta – If the general election was today, how would you cast your vote? The answer would be the same as in 2004, when the three biggest parties – the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Democrat Party – took the lead, says a survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).
In the March 2006 survey, the three parties defeated the four other big parties, which each took below 10 percent of the "vote". Thirty-four percent of respondents said they would abstain from voting.
In the survey, potential voters, whose personality profiles defined them as "integrated" or rationally and psychologically balanced, opted for Golkar.
The Democrat Party, which had the highest score of 28.4 percent in the survey in January 2005, ended up in second place in March 2006. This is apparently due to the fact that Democrat Party voters are pragmatic types, who prioritize the benefits it has over other parties, rather than hold an emotional attachment to it, LSI executive director Saiful Mujani said.
"If the people think a party is no longer making things better for them, they will shift allegiances," he said. PDI-P and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) voters also tended to be pragmatic.
However, a series of surveys, conducted from April 2004 through March 2006, revealed fluctuating figures, indicating inconsistencies in public support for the parties. Saiful said this was the consequence of political parties' poor accountability and inability to accommodate the interests of voters.
"The parties have not tried hard enough to convey sincerity, nor approached the public to explain what their current programs and policies are," he said. "This gives the public the impression the parties they voted for are not accommodating their interests."
The survey also showed a considerable number of people feel alienated or do not associate themselves emotionally with any party. This impression substantiates the fact that votes for the seven major parties have decreased overall.
The survey showed that, in terms of public confidence, the parties are performing poorly in comparison to other public institutions, such as the House of Representatives, police and the presidential office.
The survey also showed the public is generally ill-informed about party activities and policies, particularly on the fuel price and rice import issues. Up to 90 percent of respondents had no idea about their party's stance on the fuel price rises, while 94 percent were in the dark about rice policies.
"This brings about the possibility of poor public participation in the next general election," Saiful said.
He said the survey should be construed as an early warning for political parties to boost their performances by improving their communications and networking with constituents.
Golkar deputy secretary Rully Chairul Azwar responded positively to the survey. "We (Golkar) are going to upgrade our internal recruitment mechanism, so that we will have more credible candidates," he said.
He pointed out that transparency was a must within a political party, so the public had easy access to information about their candidates.