Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) public approval rating has dropped to 46.2 percent this year reportedly due to public disappointment in five areas, a recent survey shows.

According to the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), respondents were unsatisfied with the Yudhoyono government's performance in managing the economy, social issues, law enforcement, foreign affairs and politics.

"Regarding the economy, most respondents were unsatisfied with rising prices of staple foods. In the social area, violence against minority groups is viewed as a major problem. As for law enforcement, people are disappointed with poor handling of corruption cases," LSI researcher Ardian Sopa said in a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

Ardian added that in foreign affairs, the beheading of Ruyati, who was an Indonesian migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, had become a spotlight of public concern. Lastly, in the political area, respondents indicated their hopes that in the interest of stability the political atmosphere could become more consolidated.

The LSI has conducted three surveys on SBY's approval ratings, the first being in January 2010, when the approval rating was recorded at 63.1 percent. The next survey showed approval of 60.7 percent in October 2010, before the survey this month concluded 46.2 percent approval.

The latest survey involved 1,200 respondents from Indonesia's 33 provinces and was conducted from October 5-10 with the multistage-random-sampling method, via direct interviews, with 2.9 percent margin of error. (rpt)