Jakarta – The latest survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle showed that 35.42 percent of the Indonesian public are in support of presidential hopeful Joko Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, while opponents Prabowo Subianto and his second in command Hatta Radjasa are trailing behind with 22.75 percent of votes.
As in the legislative election, the number of undecided voters remains high at 41.8 percent, which could change the prospects for both camps, according to Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) researcher Ade Mulyana. The remaining six weeks leading up to the July 9 elections could provide the perfect opportunity for both tickets to strategize and campaign smartly.
The LSI poll covered the candidates' appeal among the country's five largest community groups, which include Islamic organizations Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, farmers, laborers and housewives.
"The question is whether or not Prabowo-Hatta's political machine can change voters' support and whether or not Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla can maintain [their voters] or increase their them in the final 40 days leading to the presidential election," Ade was quoted as saying by Kompas.com.
Prabowo and Hatta pair are benefitting from the larger number political parties they managed to collect in a coalition, which according to the April 9 legislative race results brought 48.93 percent of voters' support compared to Jokowi and Kalla's 38.97 percent.
Instead, the latter pair gained the highest support in four of five community groups, while backing for Prabowo-Hatta was highest in one: the Muhammadiyah.
It's still not clear on what basis the public chose to support a specific presidential candidate, as most respondents admitted to have little to no knowledge of either ticket's platform.
"Unfortunately, until today, the majority of voters in those five communities still don't understand the candidates' respective programs; news detailing their platforms simply don't reach these groups.
"According to the poll, 80 percent of the respondents don't know what Jokow stands for, while 70 percent said they were unfamiliar with Prabowo's plans [for the country," said Ade.
The LSI poll was carried out in early May and involved 2,400 respondents in 33 provinces, using a multistage random sampling method. Its margin of error stood at roughly 2 percent. The survey was complimented with qualitative research through focus group discussions, in depth-interviews and media analysis.
In response to the survey, which showed the Muhammadiyah's low support for him, Jokowi visited Fauzi AR Fakhrudin, the son of former Muhammadiyah chairman AR Fakhrudin and an influential figure among the organization's estimated 30 million members, in Yogyakarta on Monday.
Anies Baswedan, spokesman of the Joko-Kalla campaign team, confirmed that the visit was politically motivated and Joko was seeking Fauzi's blessing and moral support for the presidential election. "He [Fauzi] is a legendary ulema and [Joko] paid him a visit on Monday to gain Fauzi's blessing, as well as to learn how to pray," said Anies.
When asked which presidential ticket her endorsed, Fauzi admitted to backing Joko-Kalla, but would not support them on behalf of the Muhammadiyah. Fauzi praised Joko as a modest man in every aspect. "Personally I support Jokowi because he is a humble man, a characteristic our religion calls for," said Fauzi.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/latest-survey-places-jokowi-kalla-ticket-lead/