Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Despite widespread perceptions that Wednesday's gubernatorial election was tainted by money politics and voter apathy, some observers say most Jakartans made their choices for the right reasons.

An exit poll carried out by the Institute of Research, Education and Information on Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES) found 67 percent of 588 interviewees who voted for the winner Fauzi Bowo did so based on one or more of two main reasons: his policies and his perceived experience as a candidate.

The exit poll was sponsored by the US-based National Democratic Institute, whose Indonesia director Paul Rowland attended a joint conference with LP3ES on Thursday.

According to the groups' quick count, Fauzi led the tally with 58 percent, trouncing rival Adang Daradjatun. The exit poll also revealed 43 percent of the voters who backed Adang cited his policy platform as their main reason for supporting him.

LP3ES researcher Agung Prihatna said the fact Fauzi was backed by a coalition of 19 political was not a major factor in his victory. The exit poll found only 4 percent of Fauzi voters backed him because of the direct recommendation of parties grouped in his Jakarta Coalition.

"This proves that, in the eyes of voters, Fauzi's position as an experienced bureaucrat was seen as a better selling point than Adang's promise to 'fix' Jakarta," Agung said.

However, party recommendation was a significant factor for Adang, with 13 percent of voters surveyed in the exit poll saying they supported him because of his party backing.

Of the 1,013 voters interviewed on polling day, LP3ES found that Adang, who was backed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), managed to gain 31 percent of his votes as leakage from coalition party supporters who were "instructed" to vote Fauzi. These "converts" accounted for 59 percent of the 425 respondents who voted for Adang.

Agung said the Indonesian Democratic of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar were the most solid parties when it came to delivering votes, with 56 and 60 percent of their supporters respectively voting for Fauzi.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Star Reform Party (PBR) did the worst in translating their support into votes, with only 34 and 43 percent of their respondents respectively.

The survey defined respondents as supporters of certain parties based on their choice in the 2004 legislative election. Even the PKS, the most solid party of all in retaining support, saw 13 percent of its voters from the 2004 election switch their support to Fauzi.

Rowland said the exit poll results showed Jakartans were rational voters, since platforms featured so highly among the candidates' attraction. He said this would lead to stronger democracy in the city in the future.

"This is the first direct gubernatorial election and whoever is elected will have to deliver some of the voters' expectations, otherwise he will not be elected for a second term," he said.

Both institutions praised the two-thirds voter turnout as a record among the 300-odd regional elections held over the past few years. "The high turnout is very straightforward for the city's democracy... a total of 46 percent of the voters interviewed said it's both a right and an obligation of citizens to vote," Agung said.