REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - A university lecture described the presidential election quick count released by state run radio broadcasting station (RRI) as credible. The result of quick count carried out by RRI in cooperation with Antara news agency has been criticized by some political observer as being politically motivated. 

RRI and Antara have taken a neutral stand taking side with neither one of the presidential candidates, Arie Sudjito, lecturer of the state run Gadjah Mada University(UGM) on Saturday. 

RRI has a good reputation in election survey such as it had proved in the legislative elections when its quick count result was almost the same as the official count by the election commission (KPU), Arie said in a written statement. There should be no doubt about the credibility of the quick count as RRI has the resource to carry out such surveys, he said. The methodology of the quick count could be audited if any doubt about the credibility, he said. 

"Allegation that RRI and Antara had been politically motivated is groundless," he said, adding, on the contrary, the motive of the political observers throwing the allegation against RRI is highly questionable.

RRI has released its quick count showing that the election had been won by the widely popular candidate Joko Widodo(Jokowi) and his running mate Jusuf Kalla.

The result of the quick count by RRI is more or less the same as those of seven other independent survey agencies. However, four other survey agencies affiliated to parties or individuals supporting Prabowo Subianto claimed the election was won by the the rival candidate.

The release of contradicting results of quick counts had caused confusion in the public that it is feared to trigger conflicts in the community. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), therefore, asked for restraint and called on broadcasting media to stop presenting the quick counts results to the public. 

KPI asked all mass media to wait until the KPU announced the official decision about the result of the election on July 22. KPI chairman Judhariksawan said continued presentation of the result of the quick counts and claims of victory by opposing rivals was disturbing and highly potential to cause social unrest. 

Meanwhile, another lecturer Rudi Rohi of the state Cendana Kupang University, also came to the defense of RRI saying the broadcasting agency has the capacity and resources to carry out a credible survey with its nation wide networks.

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