Jakarta – While trailing presidential candidates have claimed the July 8 presidential election process was "flawed and unfair", the latest survey results from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) reveal that grass-roots voters have an entirely different sentiment.

The survey questioned some 2,000 respondents in all 33 provinces on July 8. The results found that around 33 percent of respondents thought the election was "very" fair and clean with another 59 percent saying it was fair and clean "enough". Only around 6 percent of respondents believed it was "flawed".

"In general, voters thought the election was fair and clean," LSI executive director Dodi Ambardi told a press conference at his office in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.

"The result is in contrast with the latest developments and statements made by political elites who claim the election process was flawed and unfair."

The presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Sukarnoputri, and her running mate, Prabowo Subianto of the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), have claimed that the recent election was shrouded in many violations, making its result unconstitutional. The pair also said they would not officially accept the results unless the dispute over the election's validity was settled.

Incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party (PD) and his non-party running mate Boediono garnered around 60 percent of votes according to various unofficial quick count results. According to the same polls, Megawati and Prabowo had secured 28 percent, while incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla of the Golkar Party and Wiranto of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) had gained 12 percent.

A member of Kalla's campaign team, Indra Piliang, told The Jakarta Post the survey results would not stop his team from collecting more evidence on election violations and mismanagement. "We are still collecting more evidence," he said. "Once we have gathered enough evidence, we will then submit our findings to the police or the Constitutional Court."

A political expert from the University of Indonesia, Rocky Gerung, said the political elite and grass-roots voters had different perceptions of the essence of the election.

"The elite have vested interests in the results. This makes their judgements more subjective than that of grass-roots voters," he said.

However, Rocky also said the percentages and statistics in the survey did not necessarily truly depict the voters' current sentiments.

"The survey was conducted among respondents who had just submitted their votes at polling stations. They did not have any idea about the election outcome at that stage," he said.

"The percentage of people believing the election was 'fair and balanced' could greatly change right now following the publication of quick count results and election process mismanagement."

However, an executive from PD, Ruhut Sitompul, believed the survey results were valid, regardless of the fact it was conducted before voters had any idea of the election results.

"The outcome across the country shows that voters do not care about the opinions of the elite or community leaders. They voted based on their own opinions and consciences, not because of instructions from their leaders," he said.

"So, it really is not proper for the losing candidates to continue protesting about the validity of the election. The other candidates might have won the hearts of community leaders, but failed to win the hearts of the people."

Kalla gained official supports from Indonesia's top two Islamic organizations – Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama.

Megawati and Prabowo had also signed many political contracts with various labor and farmer unions prior to the election, expressing support for the pair's "people-based" economic programs. (hdt)