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Public warned about polling results ahead of elections
Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 10/11/2008 11:22 AM | National
Surveys, polls and quick counts are prone to abuse by political figures and the information they provide on political parties and candidates during the lead up to the elections may be skewed, observers say.
In the past, pollsters have been rigged at the request of certain political figures to supply voters will misinformation.
Political expert at the University of Indonesia Hariyadi Wirawan said that between the hundreds of regional elections of the last few years and the dozens of political parties hungry for information, surveys and pollsters have proven lucrative businesses.
"A pollster told me that there were different fees for different results. So, the money depends on the what percentages you want," he said.
Contradicting surveys and polls have led to violence between supporters of opposing political candidates, most recently during the South Sumatra gubernatorial election.
Candidate pair Alex Noerdin and Eddy Yusuf won the election by beating Syahrial Oesman and Helmy Yahya.
However, the result sparked violence among the supporters of the defeated pair because a poll published immediately before the election had declared Syahrial the winner. However, a quick count conducted soon after revealed that Alex and Eddy had won.
Earlier, voters in the East Kalimantan gubernatorial election were bewildered when quick counts conducted by two pollsters declared different victors, with the Indonesian Survey Institute declaring that the pairing of Ahmad Amins-Hadi Mulyadi had clinched victory, while the other named Awang Faroek Ishak and Farid Wadjady the winners.
The East Kalimantan Election Commission later confirmed Awang-Farid as the winners.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Budiman Sudjatmiko said the incident had occurred because the pollsters had failed in their role as independent surveyors.
"A survey institution should try to uncover and pronounce the truth in any given public situation, while a political consultant aims at advising a client so they can win the election. In Indonesia, we mix these roles," he said.
Mohammad Qodari, executive director of Indo Barometer research center, said either the pollsters did not have the capacity to conduct thorough surveys or they simply harbored political affiliations.
"For instance, a recent survey showed that the Golkar Party was trailing the Democratic Party and Gerindra. How can that be?" he said.
At least three noted pollsters have shown in recent surveys that the PDI-P and the Golkar Party are leading the polls.
Qodari said it was down to the media and the public to research surveyors to determine which could be trusted.
