Carlos Paath – A new survey shows that the Democratic Party is losing even more ground among Indonesian voters, with only 7.1 percent of respondents saying they would vote for the party in next year's elections.

"Compare it with the result of the 2009 elections, which were won by PD [the Democratic Party] with 21 percent votes. Now it's only 7.1 percent," Philips J. Vermonte, a senior researcher with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in Jakarta on Sunday.

The CSIS conducted the survey from April 9 to 16, interviewing a total of 1,635 respondents from 31 provinces, with a margin of error of 2.42 percent and confidence level of 95 percent.

Philips said the latest result followed the declining trend in the ruling party's popularity, with similar polls conducted by the CSIS in January and July last year showing only 12.6 percent and 11.1 percent of respondents, respectively, were willing to vote for the party founded by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A different poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) similarly showed the party's decline in popularity, with the Democrats winning only 11.7 percent of the respondents' favor in a March survey, from 13.7 percent in February last year.

Another poll body, the National Survey Media (Median), pointed out earlier this month that nearly 77 percent of Democratic Party voters in 2009 have decided to cast their ballots for other parties next year, according to an April poll. That represented the biggest loss among other party participants of the 2009 elections.

"PD surely has a lot of homework to do... The latest figure reflects a significant drop," Philips said.

A member of the CSIS board of advisors, Jeffrie Geovanie, suggested that the Democratic Party pick young popular figures, such as Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, who is currently not affiliated with any party, as its presidential candidates for next year so as to boost the party's electability.

Gita would be able to compete with Jakarta Deputy Governor Joko Widodo, a member of the rival Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as Joko has been tipped by many analysts as a better candidate than PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The latest CSIS poll result shows that Golkar leads in popularity with 13.2 percent voters, followed by the PDI-P with 12.7 percent, Gerindra (7.3 percent) and the Democratic Party (7.1 percent).

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the most popular Islamic-based party during the 2009 elections, finished 7th with 2.7 percent, following the recent corruption scandal involving its former chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq and his colleague Ahmad Fathanah.

The PKS was beaten by fellow Islamic groups the National Mandate Party (PAN), with 4 percent votes, and the National Awakening Party (PKB) with 3.5 percent.

More than 40 percent of the respondents said they had not decided which party to vote for yet, while 2.7 percent said they would abstain.