SP/Yeremia Sukoyo – Prabowo Subianto, the former Army general who tops most polls of prospective presidential candidates, says he is working to get the endorsement of the country's academic community.

"I already have the backing of dozens of professors and leading academics. If I didn't have their backing, there's no way I would nominate myself to run for president," he said on Thursday.

Prabowo, who founded and is now the chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), said it was important to get the support of academics not just because of their high standing and influence in society, but also because of their expertise and potential for contributing toward national development programs.

Most polls have Prabowo as the leading candidate for 2014, ahead of Megawati Sukarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). However, observers note that his bid could be over before it begins because of a lack of party support.

Analysts say Prabowo burned his bridges with the PDI-P by glorifying his role in last year's Jakarta gubernatorial poll, thereby damaging his chances of being selected by Megawati. Though she did not mention Prabowo by name, Megawati blasted "free riders" for taking credit for Joko Widodo's election victory.

Analysts point to only two options open to Prabowo if he is to gather the necessary party support needed to mount a presidential bid. One is to persuade President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to allow his Democratic Party, which won 20.8 percent of votes in 2009, to support him.

A less likely scenario is that he forms a coalition with several minor parties. Megawati, widely expected to be the PDI-P candidate, trails Prabowo in the polls, followed by Jusuf Kalla, the former vice president and ex-chairman of the Golkar Party.