Novianti Setuningsih – Politicians need to try something new to regain public trust ahead of next year's elections, it appears, with a new survey finding an increasing number of people are questioning their leaders' moral commitment.
A recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) showed 52 percent of its 1,200 respondents distrust the values of politicians working in the executive, legislative and judicial systems.
"In 2005, public distrust toward politicians' morals stood at 35 percent. In 2009, the distrust was at 40 percent. And then in 2013, public distrust rose to 52 percent," LSI researcher Rully Akbar announced on Sunday at a news conference.
The significant growth, he said, stemmed from the fact that 52 percent of people agreed that few political figures were suitable role models.
The poll also found that 65 percent of people believe there is a significant gap between politicians' words and their actions. Some 38 percent of respondents said politicians' attitudes and characters contradicted their professed religious views.
"There is a gap between politicians' religious claims and their attitude. For example, individuals of a certain religious mass organization would often act upon their own judgment [without initially consulting governmental entities]. Another thing is that Indonesia is a country with a majority Islam population but a most corrupt government," Rully said.
The survey was conducted by LSI from Wednesday to Friday, with a margin of error of 2.9 percent. It was conducted across all 33 provinces and included qualitative research, media analysis, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.
"Respondents came from both cities and rural areas, those who are educated and non-educated, men and women from all social and economic statuses. Every segment of the Indonesian population," Rully said.
Rully added that the cluster of corruption cases made public by law enforcement entities like the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) intensified public doubt toward politicians.
"The KPK and other law enforcement officers have exposed many corruption cases. This is good. On the other hand, however, the fact that so many corruption cases exposed involve big political figures [means] public distrust could continue to increase ahead of 2014," he said.
Rully highlighted a 2011 survey released by the KPK that ranked the Ministry of Religious Affairs as the most corrupt government ministry.
The ministry has been put under close scrutiny by the KPK following the discovery of corruption in a Koran procurement program, which is estimated to have cost Rp 20 billion ($2 million) in state losses in 2011 and Rp 14 billion in losses in 2012.
"The Holy Book is a source of morality, but yet the Holy Book itself was subject to corruption," he said.
The involvement of religion-based political parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in corruption cases has also contributed to raising doubts against politicians' integrity.
The chairman of the PKS earlier this year resigned after he was linked to the payment of bribes in exchange for beef import permits, and other party officials have been implicated.
"Personal godliness based on [religious] beliefs and practices is unable to hold back corrupt personal desires," Rully said.
Acts of violence conducted by religion-based mass organizations in recent years have also fueled suspicion of a link between professed piety and malfeasance. "But ... law enforcement officers have allowed them to do so," he said.
The survey's results should serve as a precaution for religion-based political parties, Rully said, because their popularity will depend on their ability to create positive perceptions ahead of the elections.
"With the many [corruption] cases, public trust toward political parties could decline," he said.
Speaking before the subsidized fuel price increase last month, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on political elites to set aside their political interests ahead of the general elections next year.
"I humbly call upon my friends, political elites, to put their political practices or political interests second ahead of 2014, as there is something that needs to be done by all of us, the people of Indonesia," said the president, the leader of the nationalist Democratic Party.
Such actions appear to be out of step with current political practices.
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in 2011 found irregularities in the state budget amounting to Rp 103 trillion, with only Rp 37.8 trillion of that sum investigated by the government. Of the 305 cases, worth Rp 33.6 trillion, reported to law enforcement officers, only 139 were checked.
Indonesian Corruption Watch recently claimed politicians lacked commitment in curbing corruption, identifying 36 legislative candidates from various parties it said lacked commitment on the issue.
"Corruption remains unimportant to political parties and we have no doubt about this," said Emerson Yuntho, an official ICW official.
In the LSI survey, only 37 percent of respondents believed politicians would improve their attitudes over the next year. "Meanwhile 40 percent stated that the political elite would not change," Rully said.
The pollster noted that politicians' failure to use this week's start of Ramadan to improve themselves may strengthen apathy toward Indonesia's democracy. "Without change, the public will become even more apathetic toward the politicians as collective hypocrisy only becomes more obvious," he said.
Next year's elections, the fourth round of votes since hardline leader Suharto was ousted from power in 1998, come amid entrenched negativity toward political parties and many political figures.
Early next year, ballots will elect members of the House of Representatives, with the results serving as the basis for discussions between parties to establish which candidates will stand for the presidential election, which could extend to a second round if no candidate secures more than half of the popular vote.
Several early contenders for the presidential election have faced scrutiny over the ethics of their behavior, including corporate tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, whose company has been accused of triggering a mudflow in East Java in 2006, and Prabowo Subianto and Wiranto, who served in the military during times of great violence.