VZCZCXRO9732
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #3198/01 3230942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190942Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7107
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4502
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1595
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1453
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 3554
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1141
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2033
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 0452
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 003198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, EAP/PD 
NSC FOR E. PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS KPAO ID
SUBJECT: OUTREACH AT KEY PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE 
 
REF: A. JAKARTA 2996 
 
     ¶B. JAKARTA 2146 
 
JAKARTA 00003198  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- 
Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  During a November 15 visit to the Habibie 
Institute--a public policy think-tank--POL, PAS and USAID 
officers held a lengthy dialogue with Institute officials 
about public opinion polling.  Emboffs described Mission 
polling projects, offered to bring a visiting polling speaker 
to the Institute early next year, and exchanged thoughts on 
the limitations of polling.  The outreach event came in 
response to a request from former president Habibie to the 
Ambassador for more information about Mission's activities in 
this area (Ref A).  END SUMMARY. 
 
KEY CENTER EYES POLLING PROJECT 
 
¶3. (SBU) On November 15, officers from the Political and 
Public Affairs Sections, and USAID held an in-depth 
discussion about public opinion polling with 15 senior 
officials from the Jakarta-based Habibie Institute.  The 
Institute--founded in 1999 by former president Habibie--is a 
non-profit think-tank known for its symposiums and scholarly 
articles on democracy, human rights, and technology issues. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Habibie Center officials underscored concerns about 
the prevalence of poverty and the rise in unemployment in 
Indonesia.  Executive Director Ahmad Watik Pratiknya asserted 
that even if macroeconomic indicators were "moving in the 
right direction," the average Indonesian was having trouble 
meeting his or her basic needs.  According to Pratiknya, as a 
result, Indonesian society was becoming "confused" and 
Indonesians needed an objective way to determine whether 
democracy was on the right track. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In Pratiknya's judgment, one such way to gauge the 
overall fitness of democracy in Indonesia would be to develop 
a "happiness index"--a systematic, quantifiable statistical 
analysis of satisfaction with government services based on 
extensive polling.  The index would allow Indonesians to see 
how far the country had come (or needed to go) and better 
understand what was working and what was not. 
 
U.S. POLLING 
 
¶6. (SBU) USAID Emboff outlined the basic parameters of a 
three-year USAID financed national survey that measures 
Indonesian attitudes towards democracy.  Among other items, 
the survey looked at national perceptions about security, the 
role of religion, as well as political parties and local 
governments.  Emboff distributed copies of the 2006 survey 
results and noted that the 2007 polling responses were being 
tabulated.  Mission would transmit a copy of the 2007 results 
as soon as they were available and would happily provide 
another briefing to discuss them.  Emboffs underscored that 
while the Mission survey provided useful data points, it was 
a perception survey, and not the type of performance index 
project the Habibie Institute sought to embark upon. 
 
SPEAKER PROGRAM 
 
¶7. (SBU) Cultural Affairs emboff announced that Mission would 
welcome a speaker on polling in January of 2008 (the speaker 
will be in Jakarta January 21 through February 8).  Noting 
the Habibie Center's ongoing interest in polling, emboff 
offered to arrange for the speaker to visit the Institute for 
a comprehensive roundtable discussion of polling.  Habibie 
Institute officials gratefully agreed to the suggestion. 
 
 
POLLING AS A TOOL 
 
¶8. (SBU) Emboffs underscored the importance of recognizing 
the limitations of polls.  If conducted properly, polls could 
be useful tools for policy-makers or voters, but they were 
inherently imperfect.  Polls could not scientifically gauge 
 
JAKARTA 00003198  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the strength of leadership, or grade performance, though they 
could be used to measure an electorate's perception in 
snapshot fashion of those two issues.  Successful political 
parties and politicians generally used polls to help tailor 
their message and focus their political efforts, but polls 
amounted to little more than a barometer of a particular 
snapshot in time. 
 
THINK-TANKS AND DEMOCRACY 
 
¶9. (SBU) Many Indonesian think-tanks work actively--and 
creatively with limited means--to help advance democracy in 
Indonesia.  Mission will continue to dialogue closely with 
the Habibie Institute and other organizations within the 
Indonesian think-tank community regarding such efforts (Ref 
B).  While it is not the most important Indonesian 
think-tank, the Habibie Institute has a positive record and 
has done serious studies on democratization. 
 
HUME