SP/Yeremia Sukoyo – Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo may have stolen the spotlight from senior politicians eyeing the presidency in 2014, but his deputy, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, has proven to be a more popular figure in addressing Jakarta's chronic woes, according to the results of a survey released on Thursday.

Basuki rated favorably with 98.3 percent of the 8,280 respondents polled by the Indonesia Network Election Survey, slightly ahead of Joko, who got 96.9 percent.

"In our findings, the public sees Basuki as the one who has been doing most of the work in solving Jakarta's issues, as well as the person who is moving fast in working on the problems such as the Pluit dam and the relocation of street vendors in Tanah Abang market, among others," Sutisna, the head of data for INES, said at a press conference to announce the findings.

He added that the respondents were all people eligible to vote in the 2014 elections, in which most polls paint Joko as the firm favorite ahead of other more established political figures.

Among those overshadowed by Joko is Prabowo Subianto, the co-founder and chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), of which Basuki is a member.

The latter's recent high profile and growing popularity has fueled speculation that his no-nonsense leadership style that has led to tangible results may be engineered by Gerindra to undermine Joko and thus boost Prabowo's chances at winning the presidency next year.

But Basuki said he fully supported Joko as governor. "The instructions are clear: to help Joko be a successful governor. There are no other instructions," he said on Wednesday as quoted by Merdeka.com.

He added he had no problems with the idea of Joko pursuing a presidential bid. "That's a good thing. I think the majority of Indonesians believe in a leader who is honest and hard working," he said.

However, Basuki recently indicated that he was not ready to take over as governor should Joko decide to run for the nation's highest seat in 2014. "I'm not ready to move my office downstairs. The view is better from up here, I can see the National Monument," he said last week, in reference to his office being one floor above Joko's at City Hall.

Meanwhile, tensions are mounting between Gerindra and the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which Joko is a member, following calls by Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon for the PDI-P to support Prabowo in the presidential election.

"In the 2009 election, we supported Megawati," Fadli said on Tuesday, referring to the decision by Prabowo to stand as running mate to PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri. "So in 2014, we hope that Megawati will support Prabowo."

The PDI-P has refuted the notion that it is beholden to Gerindra, saying the choice of its presidential candidate did not hinge on what other parties wanted.

However, an anonymous source quoted by Merdeka.com said there was an actual deal made to that effect prior to Prabowo allying with Megawati in 2009. "The meeting took place a day before the window for registering presidential candidates for the 2009 election closed," the source said.

The coalition was reportedly agreed upon by both parties under the condition that Megawati would support Prabowo in the 2014 election. The source said that Fadli was among the senior Gerindra and PDI-P officials present at the meeting.

However, Suhardi, the Gerindra chairman and another of those said to have attended the meeting, denied the claim and said relations between the two parties were fine.