Jakarta – Incumbent Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat are currently leading in approval ratings ahead of next month's Jakarta gubernatorial election, the latest survey by the Populi Center showed on Sunday (22/01).

The survey places Ahok and Djarot at the top with an approval rating of 36.7 percent, followed by Anies Baswedan and running mate Sandiaga Uno at 28.5 percent.

Candidate pair Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and Sylviana Murni ranked last with a rating of 25 percent, which is a significant decline from the 32.2 percent they achieved in a previous survey in December.

The survey of 600 respondents also saw an increase in the number of undecided voters to 9.8 percent currently, from 8.5 percent in December, following the first gubernatorial debate.

"The increase in undecided voters after the debate is a positive sign, as voters seem to become more realistic, adopting a wait-and-see approach to gauge the performance of all candidates in the upcoming debates [before making a decision]," the Populi Center said in a statement.

Respondents also ranked the top-five problems they believe candidates should address. These were traffic congestion (26.7 percent), the cost of staple foods (20.5 percent), the unemployment rate (15 percent), education (7.8 percent) and health (7.5 percent).

Public satisfaction with the Jakarta administration has also dropped significantly to 68.3 percent from 72.5 percent in December under the leadership of the acting governor, Sumarsono.

The survey used multistage random sampling with a margin of error of approximately 4 percent.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/ahok-djarot-back-on-top-in-latest-approval-rating-survey/