18 October 2004	Monday	03 Ramazan 1425

HONG KONG, Oct 17: Most Asians want George W. Bush voted out of office in next month's US presidential election, even though many are unaware who his challenger is.

But many of the region's business leaders would prefer it if John Kerry were kept out of the White House and are particularly put off by the Democrat's more protectionist trade stance.

"Bush and who? John who?" asked Desy Darman, a civil servant in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

"(Bush) is maybe too arrogant toward the less developed countries. It's probably better to replace him," Darman said, reflecting strong anti-Bush sentiment among Asian people which, more than Kerry's policies, colours views of the US election in this vast region.

Nearly everyone has an opinion, mostly negative, of Bush's US-led war on Iraq and not just in Muslim-dominated Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Surveys in Japan, which has sent troops to the war-torn country, show almost 80 percent of people oppose the war and a recent online poll there showed 56 percent of 1,730 responses favoured Kerry against 21.5 percent for Bush.

"Many of the correspondents disapprove of Bush in connection with the war in Iraq," said the site's operator, Yoshiaki Hirai.

Australians also backed Kerry - despite giving prime minister John Howard, Bush's friend and ally in Iraq, a fourth term in the country's elections last week.

A recent poll conducted as part of a global exercise involving 10 newspapers around the world saw 54 percent of respondents in Australia supporting Kerry while only 28 percent backed Bush.

Some Asians - particularly in India, Thailand and China - are apathetic about the US poll, but others have strong views crystallised by US foreign policy issues that affect them at home: the war on terror; economic policies on protectionism and outsourcing; and potential regional flashpoints such as North Korea and Taiwan.

The Republican incumbent is viewed by the region's conservative business leaders as strong on the economy, while Kerry scores more highly with the public, media and intelligentsia on international issues.

In Pakistan, a key ally on the frontline of the war on terror, mostly Muslim citizens widely oppose US-led military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, but are not totally anti-Bush.

In Indonesia, home to the world's largest Islamic community and the scene of three major bombings blamed on an Al-Qaeda-linked group, there is widespread interest in the poll, according to political analyst Sudjati Djiwandono.

"I think in terms of popularity many support John Kerry because the name of Bush is closely connected to with the attack on Iraq," Sudjati said.

Surveys in the Philippines, a former US colony, show it is one of the few countries where the local populace supports Bush.

"If Filipinos were voting for the American president, George W. Bush would have this election in the bag," wrote political scientist Alex Magno, an adviser to President Gloria Arroyo, in a newspaper column.

"Filipinos... have a frontline appreciation of the threat posed by international terrorism," Magno said.

South Koreans, concerned chiefly with US policy towards North Korea, are split over Bush's perceived hawkish stance.

Along with business leaders in Japan, Korean executives fear a Kerry win will spark trans-Pacific trade friction, while India's booming information technology sector is wary of Kerry's promise to fight outsourcing of American jobs.-AFP