LSI's latest survey still favors Yudhoyono
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 07/04/2009 10:50 PM
The latest survey from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) reveals a slight decline in the popularity of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but still gives him an insurmountable lead over his rivals for next week’s presidential election.
Of 3,000 respondents from 33 provinces surveyed on July 2, 63 percent said they would vote for Yudhoyono, compared to 19.6 percent for Megawati Soekarnoputri and 10.6 percent for Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
“This survey was conducted to study whether the presidential debates had any significant impact on voters' preferences. However, we must include a disclaimer that the third and final debate was not included as a factor in this survey," LSI executive director Dodi Ambardi said Saturday at a press conference.
With Yudhoyono’s popularity dipping by only 4 percent from the June 20 survey, the LSI concluded the debates hardly changed voters’ preferences.
LSI senior researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi reminded Yudhoyono’s campaign team members to behave and avoid any slips of the tongue, otherwise they would risk alienating voters.
"The Andi Mallarangeng issue, for instance, could be exploited by Kalla to raise anti-Javanese outrage in Kalla's native South Sulawesi and in other regions," he warned.
Presidential spokesman and Yudhoyono campaign team stalwart Andi sparked anger among South Sulawesi residents for downplaying the possibility of anyone from the province leading the country. Andi himself is a South Sulawesi native. (hdt)
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