Jakarta – The Democratic Party should be wary following findings from a new nationwide survey that indicated public support for the country's ruling party was dwindling, pundits say.

The study by the Indonesian Survey Circle, which ran from September to October, showed support for the Golkar Party – the second-largest member in the ruling coalition behind the Democratic Party – rose nearly 3 percent from 14.5 percent last year to 17.8 percent

Support for the Democratic Party slid from 30 percent in the months after the 2009 presidential election to 26.1 percent.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political observer Syamsuddin Haris told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the Democratic Party may lose the 2014 elections to Golkar, citing the current government's poor performance as a main factor.

"The survey results clearly indicate the declining popularity of the ruling party, meaning that it is possible Golkar will triumph in the next elections," he said.

The Democratic Party, founded by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono nine years ago, has to regain its popularity if it wants to win the next legislative and parliamentary elections.

Syamsuddin said the problem was that the Democratic Party and Golkar shared the same ideology championing development and public welfare, and that voters were likely to choose the most popular of the two. "If the ruling party loses its popularity, voters may swing to Golkar."

He suggested that the Democratic Party publicly name its presidential candidate soon, as this would afford the party the opportunity to prepare and promote their nominee for the elections. "There is a widespread belief that President Yudhoyono's party has been sweeping the matter under the rug," Syamsuddin added.

Another LIPI political expert, Siti Zuhro, concurred, saying there were two reasons for the slide in the Democratic Party's popularity. "A crisis of leadership and the President's poor performance in running the government pretty much contributed to the declining popularity, as shown by the survey," Siti said.

However, she emphasized that people needed to question the methodology used in the survey, as well as any bias by the survey institution.

"This is a very sophisticated prediction. Nevertheless, we need to know the empirical process and variables used in the survey. We also need to question the purpose of this survey. Is it to form an opinion, or to give a wake up call to the political parties?" Siti added.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum told the Post that the party was optimistic about winning the 2014 elections, saying the party's popularity had actually increased from 20.9 percent (in the months leading up to the 2009 presidential elections) to 26.1 percent in 2010. "We will always be at the front, while ensuring that no other political parties beat us out," he said.

Anas added that the Democratic Party was fully supportive of the President's administration, while at the same time ensuring that the government improved its performance. "The party is also consolidating internal strength through structural reform, improving logistics, better recruitment strategies and image development," he said.