JakartaPost-Apr 6, 2022
A public opinion poll conducted by Australian think tank Lowy Institute has found that although the majority of Indonesians were committed to democracy, many showed a high level of confidence in authoritarian leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The survey found that four in 10 respondents, or 40 percent of those surveyed, said they had confidence in Putin. “It should be noted, though, that this survey was conducted prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine,” the think tank said in a statement. The survey also showed that respondents had a preference for other authoritarian leaders like Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhamad bin Salman (57 percent) and the United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (52 percent). The survey also found that the majority of respondents, at a staggering 74 percent, said they had confidence in the leadership of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The lowest ranked leader on the list was Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, with only 30 percent of respondents saying they had high or some confidence in him. The public opinion survey also found that despite concerns from activists and experts that Indonesia could be experiencing democratic backsliding amid global evidence of a decline in the quality of democracy, Indonesians are as broadly committed to democracy as they were a decade ago. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/04/06/survey-finds-indonesians-prefer-bin-salman-putin.html.
