Agnes Valentina Christa, Jakarta – The Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, will enjoy an upward swing in the number of voters if the election is held today, according to the latest survey by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) released on Sunday.

Support for Gerindra surges to 14.1 percent of the total votes compared to the same survey last year which indicated that the party would receive only 8.9 percent of the votes.

The latest figures are also higher than Gerindra's actual result in the last election, moving it past Golkar Party in second place.

SMRC research director Deni Irvani said Gerindra received a boost from its recent political moves that saw Chairman Prabowo Subianto and President Joko Widodo appear together in several intimate moments.

Gerindra is the first party to launch the joint secretariat with coalition partner the National Awakening Party (PKB).

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) remains in pole position, but its support dropped by four percentage points to 23.4 percent from last year.

The SMRC survey puts Golkar Party in fourth with 9.1 percent of the votes, just below the PKB (10.3 percent).

The National Democratic Party (Nasdem), which nominated former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan for the 2024 presidential election, is ranked fifth with 7 percent of the votes, followed by the Democratic Party (5.9 percent), and the Prosperous Justice Party or PKS (5.7 percent).

If the survey holds true in the general elections next year, two incumbent parties will be kicked out of the House of Representatives. They include the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

But Deni said political rivalries in the runup to the general elections are open to many possibilities because a substantial number of voters remain undecided.

"Any party still has a chance to increase votes with 15.3 percent of voters having yet to make up their mind," he said.

The survey was conducted from March 2-11 involving 1,220 respondents in the voting age group. The margin of error is put at plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/support-for-gerindra-in-upward-trend-surve