Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's choice of former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono as running mate in the upcoming presidential elections has led him to declining popularity, a recent survey concludes.
The analysis of the survey results claims Yudhoyono's popularity was decreasing because Boediono had been labelled a "neoliberal" – which voters deemed a hindrance to the pair's ability to implement people-oriented economic policies over the next five years.
The survey, conducted between June 5 and June 9 by the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate, in 137 regencies and mayoralties, involved 2,986 respondents, 75 percent of whom were under 50 years of age.
"The survey found that the respondents believe the Yudhoyono-Boediono pair would do less than the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Prabowo Subianto pair, after outlining their programs on food and energy security and foreign debt rescheduling," survey coordinator Toto Sugiarto told a media briefing Saturday.
The survey recorded that 58 percent of respondents believed Megawati and Prabowo would be in an all-out battle to apply pro-people farming policies. Around 29 percent of respondents backed incumbent President Yudhoyono and Boediono on this matter.
When asked about who should be trusted to fight for Indonesia's self sufficiency in food and energy, 36.4 percent of respondents chose the Megawati-Prabowo pair. Meanwhile, the Yudhoyono-Boediono pair managed to garner 33.5 percent in this area.
The survey also found that 41.7 percent of respondents believed Vice President Jusuf Kalla had done most of the work over the past four-and-a-half years while in office. Meanwhile, those who said Yudhoyono had worked harder constituted 40.5 percent.
However, the survey concluded that to date the Yudhoyono-Boediono ticket were still ranked first, garnering 52.2 percent of the vote, followed by Megawati-Prabowo with 24.4 percent. The Kalla-Wiranto pair came in last, with 20.2 percent.
Other surveys have come out with contrasting results on how the Yudhoyono-Boediono ticket would fair in the July 8 presidential election.
A survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) predicted that they would win 70 percent of votes.
A later survey, conducted by the Indonesian Research Institute (LRI), found that Yudhoyono's popularity had declined, gaining 62 percent of votes.
Commenting on the results, Hendri Saparini, an economist from Econit research institution, said the controversy was most likely caused by campaigns against neoliberalism which targeted Boediono.
The campaigns – initiated by several economists – had raised questions in people's minds, leading to doubts about the pair – particularly Boediono, he said.
"When people see their livelihoods not improving from day to day, they begin to think there must be something wrong with the way the current government is managing the country," Hendri said.
Effendi Ghazali, an expert on political communication from the University of Indonesia, said the survey revealed a decreasing trend in the popularity of the Yudhoyono-Boediono pair, regardless of who conducted it.
"Given the fact that other surveys have placed the Yudhoyono-Boediono pair in an almost unbeatable position, this survey shows us a fairly significant decrease for the SBY-Boediono pair," Ghazali told the briefing.
If the trend was consistent, he said, it was likely the presidential elections would go into a second round.
"And if this happens, the SBY-Boediono pair will face the possibility of losing... because the two other contenders have already sealed a deal to back each other up if the election goes into a second round."