Field still open for all in 2014: CSIS Survey

The absence of fresh-faced politicians has left voters with little option but to elect political veterans if the presidential poll is to take place today, a survey said.

A survey from the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows that politicians like chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto and former vice president Jusuf Kalla remain popular presidential candidates, although they have to compete for only a fraction of votes from the electorate.

The results of a nationwide survey published on Wednesday show Megawati and Prabowo are the two most popular presidential candidates, supported by 10 percent and 6.7 percent of the respondents, respectively.

Coming in third position is Kalla with 5.6 percent of the votes, which put him in a virtual dead heat with Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie who got 5.2 percent of support from respondents.

The close contest between Kalla, former Golkar Party chairman, and Bakrie has put the Golkar Party in a difficult position.

“[The Golkar Party] could be dealing with a dilemma today, because Jusuf Kalla has significantly higher popularity than even Aburizal,” CSIS researcher Sunny Tanuwidjaja told a press conference on Wednesday.

In spite of ample support for Megawati, PDI-P is seen as dealing with a similar problem, as its popularity remains tied to the charisma of its chairwoman, Sunny added.

CSIS, one of the country’s most respected think tanks, interviewed 2,220 respondents from 23 provinces nationwide for the survey and conducted the survey between Jan. 16-24 this year.

The survey also found that
some familiar names in the political scene are still struggling to win voter support.

Politicians like the embattled Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa, People’s Conscience Party chairman Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Hidayat Nur Wahid, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan were deemed too obscure as they are still struggling to go beyond the three-percent mark.

The survey also found that the majority of respondents were disappointed with President Yudhoyono’s performance, especially in areas related to the economy, corruption eradication, law enforcement, poverty alleviation, and leadership.

The survey also tracked a significant drop in support for Yudhoyono.

While around 60 percent of the respondents voted for Yudhoyono in the 2009 presidential election, now only 17.3 percent of respondents said they would vote for him in the 2014 election, if a constitutional ban did not prevent him from seeking re-election.

Despite Yudhoyono’s drop in popularity, the Democratic Party remains the most popular party with 12.6 respondents favoring it against the Golkar Party (10.5 percent) and PDI-P (7.8 percent).

The head of CSIS’ political and international department, Philips J Vermonte, said that most respondents also thought that the ruling government had failed in law enforcement, poverty reduction and corruption eradication measures. Less than one-fifth of respondents said that the economic situation was better today compared to three years ago.

“The survey shows that the opposition parties leaders get more voter sympathy than the incumbents,” he said.

PDI-P politician Maruarar Sirait, who also attended the CSIS press briefing, said Yudhoyono’s poor management of microeconomic policy could have contributed to the decline of his popularity.

He said that Megawati was still favored by voters simply because of her focus on microeconomics and poverty alleviation policies.