Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Political surveys have become a lucrative business ahead of next year's elections with reputable marketing firm Markplus Inc. putting its recent study on voters' behavior up for sale to political parties.
Markplus, owned by marketing guru Hermawan Kartajaya, set up the Indonesian Political Marketing Research (IPMR) to conduct political surveys on a regular basis ahead of the 2009 elections.
IPMR executive director Taufik said Tuesday the software, which contains the results of its recent survey, would be sold for Rp 2.2 billion (US$197,309).
"With the software, the parties and legislative candidates can map voters' behavior in each election district across the country." he said.
The survey examined, among other aspects, the popularity, acceptability and electability of political parties and presidential candidates among the respondents. It also assessed how likely certain legislative candidates were of winning seats in electoral districts.
The IPMR conducted its first-ever survey in November of 16,800 respondents representing all 77 electoral districts in 33 provinces, with a margin error estimated at 0.75 percent.
Taufik said the survey cost Rp 3 billion. Pollsters are often reluctant to disclose the budget for their surveys.
Political communication expert Effendy Ghazali hailed this method of marketing election surveys that Markplus had pioneered. "This will be the first company that has sold election survey results to the political parties. There is a big market for it," he said.
Effendy said he regretted the fact that many election pollsters refused to unveil the sponsors behind their surveys. "It would be good for survey companies to disclose their financial backers to ensure the objectivity of their results."
At a national level, the IPMR surprised political commentators when it announced former Army Strategic Reserve Command chief Prabowo Subianto was the second most popular presidential candidate after the incumbent, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Megawati Soekarnoputri was third.
As the presidential election law requires a candidate to win the support of a party or coalition with either 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the popular vote, Taufik said only Yudhoyono and Megawati stood a real chance of contesting the election.
Yudhoyono is the chief patron of the Democratic Party, while Megawati leads the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which finished second to the Golkar Party in the 2004 legislative election.
Prabowo, founder of the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra), is the most popular alternative candidate.
Golkar leader Jusuf Kalla is the most popular vice presidential aspirant, followed by House speaker Agung Laksono and People's Consultative Assembly speaker Hidayat Nurwahid, according to the survey.
The survey showed that in terms of political parties Golkar was the top choice of most respondents, followed by the PDI-P.
Gerindra has exceeded the popularity of more senior parties like the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Unity Development Party (PPP).