THEJAKARTAPOST.COM – The majority of the public is satisfied with the implementation of democracy in the country after 17 years of the reform movement, but is dissatisfied with the performance of some democratic institutions, according to a recent survey.
Poltracking Indonesia released a survey on Tuesday showing that 43.5 percent of respondents were satisfied with the realization of democratic values across the nation since the fall of the New Order regime in 1998.
Poltracking executive director Hanta Yuda said the high level of public satisfaction was due to basic rights and freedoms that people felt they could now enjoy.
“The public is satisfied with the implementation of democracy as the system enables them to freely express their thoughts,” Hanta said on Tuesday during the release of the survey in Central Jakarta.
The survey, conducted by the Jakarta-based pollster from March 23 to 31, involving 1,200 respondents, showed that 55 percent were satisfied with the state of freedom of speech in the country.
As many as 64.9 percent of respondents, who were surveyed through face-to-face interviews, also expressed satisfaction with the implementation of respect for differences regarding ethnicity, religion and race.
The advancement of human rights, another aspect that determines the democratic process in the country, also drew public satisfaction, with 52.6 percent of respondents viewing it as having been properly implemented.
Hanta said that despite the high level of satisfaction for the country’s democracy, the public still had little trust in some democratic institutions due to their poor performance.
The survey showed that the House of Representatives ranked first in terms of public dissatisfaction, with 66.5 percent of respondents slamming its performance.
“Dissatisfaction over the performance of the House is due to the failure of lawmakers to run essential functions regarding legislation, monitoring and budgeting,” Hanta said.
House Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah said the result of the survey was no surprise due to the legislature always being in the public eye.
“It’s normal. Lawmakers speak every day and all eyes are on them. The House is basically an object of criticism for the public,” said Fahri, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician.
The survey, which assessed 11 institutions, further showed that political parties and the National Police ranked second and third, with 63.5 percent and 55.9 percent in the public dissatisfaction rankings, respectively.
Hanta said that as products of the reform movement, the democratic institutions should improve themselves to gain public trust.
“They should work to serve the broad public, not only secure their own interests. This is to improve the level of public trust,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had the highest public approval rating with 69.4 percent, according to the survey.
The country’s antigraft agency was followed by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the General Elections Commission (KPU), with public satisfaction levels of 67.9 percent and 44.8 percent, respectively. (alm)
Sumber: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/20/so-far-so-good-ri-democracysays-survey.html