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ANDUNG: Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie says he remains optimistic about his chances in the 2014 presidential election despite a recent survey showing that he was ranked third in popularity among the five presidential hopefuls.

He claimed he had somehow improved his ranking and after attending an academic session at Padjadjaran University in Bandung on Monday said: “I’m very optimistic.”

The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) released the results of the electability level of presidential hopefuls and political parties in Jakarta last week. The survey was conducted on June 2 to 11 and involved 1,200 respondents. The survey used the multistage random method sampling, which has a margin error of 2.9 percent.

The survey showed Megawati Soekarnoputri ranked first with 18.3 percent of support, followed by Prabowo Subianto (18 percent), Aburizal Bakrie (17.5 percent), Hatta Radjasa (6.8 percent) and Ani Yudhoyono (6.5 percent).

Aburizal, familiarly known as Ical, said that popularity rates could change in the 18 months before the election. According to him, the survey is just a momentary depiction of the popularity of a presidential candidate.

“It’s just a temporary depiction of the time. We must work harder,” he said.