Ghina Ghaliya, Jakarta – Public trust in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak has fallen in July as the country witnesses a rising number of confirmed cases, a survey from pollster Indikator Politik revealed on Tuesday.
The survey on changes in public opinion related to the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted via phone calls from July 13 to 16, with 1,200 respondents tolled nationwide.
In total, 52.6 percent of respondents in the July survey expressed faith in Jokowi's handing of the pandemic while 8.3 percent expressed strong faith. The figures were down from May's survey, in which 53.7 percent of respondents expressed faith and 14 percent expressed strong faith in the President's handling of the crisis.
"So, we saw a decrease of around 5 percent [in those who expressed strong faith]. This is input for the President," the pollster's executive director Burhanuddin Muhtadi said on Tuesday during a virtual press conference, noting that the level of public trust in the President was still quite high.
"Public satisfaction in Jokowi's performance appears to have been quite stable over the past two months, although it seems to have dropped slightly in the past year," he added.
The survey also captured an erosion in the public's trust in Health Minister Terawan, with 36.7 percent of respondent expressing faith in the minister, down from 48.4 percent in May's survey.
Burhanuddin added that 64.8 percent of respondents believed that Jokowi needed to reshuffle his Cabinet, even though 54.7 percent said they were unaware that Jokowi had expressed anger toward his ministers over their sluggish handling of the pandemic.
"Among those who were aware of the President's fiery speech, 54.8 percent said President Jokowi was angry because the ministers had failed to deliver results in the COVID-19 fight," he said.
However, respondents expressed greater positivity about the National COVID-19 task force led by National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Doni Monardo.
"Some 60.2 percent of respondents said they were quite satisfied with the task force, up from 55 percent in May's survey," Burhanuddin said.
The rate of increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases has continued to rise in recent weeks. The country's official tally surpassed China's official tally on Saturday when the number of confirmed cases rose to 84,882. The next day, Indonesia broke its daily death toll record, recording 127 COVID-19 deaths.
As of Tuesday, Southeast Asia's largest country has recorded 89,869 confirmed cases and 4,320 deaths.