Survey: Public Views Corruption as the Biggest Obstacle to Democracy in Indonesia

Democracy in Indonesia still faces several challenges. According to a survey by *Litbang Kompas*, one of the biggest contributors to the hampered progress of democracy in the public eye is corruption.

43.2% of respondents considered corruption a persistent problem hindering the democratic process in the country. This is inseparable from the phenomenon of rampant corruption involving public officials. This situation is compounded by the weakening role of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), especially after its operational scope changed following the revision of the KPK Law.

(read: Survey BPS: DKI Jakarta the Most Democratic Province in Indonesia)

Besides corruption, 21.8% of respondents cited economic downturn, unequal treatment before the law, and human rights violations as obstacles to strengthening democracy.

Furthermore, 21.5% of respondents considered unequal treatment before the law as a hindrance to democracy. This was followed by human rights violations (7%) and others (0.5%). 6% of respondents said they did not know.

Corruption eradication needs to be a priority to restore and strengthen public trust in democracy. Corruption is like a poison that can paralyze the democratic structure that has been built with great struggle since the reform era more than two decades ago. This year's International Democracy Day should be a good moment to address the stagnation of democracy.

This survey was conducted from September 6-9, 2022, interviewing 504 respondents from 34 provinces. The sample was randomly determined from *Litbang Kompas*'s panel respondents according to the population of each province. Using this method at a 95% confidence level, the sampling error is ± 4.37% under simple random sampling conditions.