Pelita Harapan University Political Observer (UPH) Emrus Sihombing. Photo: jpnn.com document
jpnn.comJAKARTA – Political communication expert Emrus Sihombing, assessed the public opinion survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) related to the alleged involvement of the Secretary General of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Hasto Kristiyanto, in the case of corruption in my mass argument, contrary to the principle of presumption of innocence and scientific rules.
According to Emrus, the survey must be based on the principle of science that aims for the good of humans, not form opinions that have the potential to harm individuals.
“The survey must be based on science, whose philosophy is basically for the benefit of humanity. Science is not only limited to experiments or data collection, but must also consider its impact on humans,” Emrus told the media crew, Monday (10/2).
In this context, he considered that a survey asking whether the public believed that Hasto was involved in corruption or not, could build negative perceptions that were not necessarily in accordance with legal facts.
“If the survey is conducted only to test public trust in an allegation without a clear basis of evidence, this can be misleading. Survey like this seems to form an opinion that someone is guilty before there is a legal decision,” he said.
LSI previously released the results of a survey that stated that 77 percent of respondents believed Hasto was involved in the Masiku Harun case. However, after further studying, only 38 percent of respondents claimed to know the case, while the other 62 percent did not know. Thus, the 77 percent number actually comes from groups who know the case, not from the whole respondent.
Responding to that, Emrus stressed that the survey institution should focus on disclosure of facts, not just measuring public opinion against a suspicion.
“The survey institution should use a methodology that can reveal the truth, not just measuring opinions that can be misleading,” he said.
According to Emrus, the survey must be based on the principle of science that aims for the good of humans, not to form opinions that have the potential to be detrimental.