Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Criticism by state officials and political figures towards Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo will only serve to further boost his popularity, an analyst said.

"The criticism against Joko Widodo will not weaken him, but instead increase his popularity ahead of the 2014 presidential election," said Jeffry Geovanie, a board of advisers member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He said Joko's ability to keep his cool despite the political attacks has given him the moral high ground and the public has become very active in coming to the governor's defense.

Joko has continued to top various polls, showing him ahead of more senior politicians such as Prabowo Subianto, founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), of which Joko is a member.

Speaking to the press on Saturday, Prabowo responded to the poll results, claiming certain entities had paid the survey institutions to endorse Joko.

"It depends on those funding the survey. I, too, can pay 10 surveys and appear as No. 1 in all of them," Prabowo said on Saturday as quoted by Kompas.com. He claimed such practices had become very common. "We are all Indonesians, we are familiar with these tricks."

Prabowo was not alone in his claim that Joko's popularity may have been manufactured.

Earlier this month Amien Rais, the chief patron of the National Mandate Party (PAN), also launched a series of attacks against the Jakarta governor, saying it was not Joko, but his former deputy F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo who had contributed to the improvements in Solo during Joko's stint as mayor of the Central Java city.

Last week, during a lecture at the Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, Amien also likened Joko with the former president of the Philippines Joseph Estrada, saying they were both elected merely on popularity.

"All Estrada did was get drunk every night, and he was elected only because of his popularity," Amien said. "Joko may not be as bad as Estrada, but we should not elect him for the same reason." But Jeffry of the CSIS said it was wrong to claim Joko's popularity was manufactured, adding that the "Jokowi for President in 2014" was a serious movement that grew naturally from the public.