Anastasia Wienanti Resardhy – Former military general Prabowo Subianto's bid for the presidency next year has been given a boost, with a survey declaring him to be the most popular candidate, with his Great Indonesia Movement Party trumping all its rivals.

In the poll, conducted by the National Leadership Center and international research institution Taylor Nelson Sofres, 35 percent of respondents nominated Prabowo as their preferred candidate, while 20 percent chose former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, and 12 percent chose former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, results released in Jakarta on Thursday showed.

NLC president director Taufik Bahaudin said that business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie gained support from just 7 percent of respondents, and former military general Wiranto, Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan 4 percent each. The polling put Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa and Constitutional Court leader Mahfud M.D. on 2 percent each, and first lady Ani Yudhoyono and former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on 1 percent.

Taufik said the polling found the public was generally optimistic about Indonesia's future.

The TNS polling also found Prabowo's Gerindra was the most popular political party, preferred by 26 percent of respondents, followed by Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P, 25 percent), Aburizal's Golkar (18 percent), the Democratic Party (8 percent), the United Development Party (PPP), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and National Democratic Party (NasDem) (3 percent each), National Awakening Party (PKB), Hatta's National Mandate Party (PAN), and Wiranto's People's Conscience Party (Hanura) (2 percent each). The survey of 2,020 people in 31 provinces was conducted from Jan. 14 to 19. Its margin of error is a little less than 4 percent.

NLC did not include Joko Widodo in the polling because the Jakarta governor has denied an interest in standing for the presidency next year. "We have asked him and he has confirmed that he will not run for president," Taufik said.

Joko has topped previous surveys conducted by other polsters. A survey by the Jakarta Survey Institute (LSJ), published last week showed that Joko topped other candidates with 18 percent of respondents voting for him if the election was held now. The survey, which polled 1,225 respondents nationwide from Feb. 9 to 15, put Prabowo a distant second with 11 percent, Wiranto on 10 percent, Kalla and Aburizal on 9 percent and Megawati on 7 percent.

A poll by the United Data Center (PDB) conducted from Jan. 3-18 and surveying 1,200 respondents in 30 provinces also found that Joko topped a list of 33 possible candidates, receiving support from 21 percent of respondents.

Many polls on Indonesia are conducted with partisan motivations, but TNS does have a track record of success in predicting results. Three months ahead of the first round of the 2004 presidential election, it accurately picked Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the likely victor.