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fter a year of political and economic high tides for President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s administration, people still believe that he can lead this country into calmer seas this year, a survey has found.

The survey released on Tuesday by polling firm Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) showed that 63 percent of 1,220 respondents from the country'€™s 34 provinces are sure that Jokowi will lead this country better this year and can be more firm in decision-making.

The survey, which was conducted from Dec. 10 to 21, also showed that 72 percent of respondents consider that Jokowi has been on the right track to move the country forward, the highest positive attitude toward a government in the last five years.

According to SMRC executive director Djayadi Hanan, the public trust and positive sentiment should make Jokowi more confident this year.

'€œJokowi should not be influenced by negative sentiments from elites who show pessimism and say that this country will collapse,'€ Djayadi said during the survey'€™s release at his office on Tuesday.

On the economy, the public feels that the country'€™s performance during 2015 was just so-so, with only 39 percent of respondents considering that it went better than in 2014 and 38 percent seeing no real change.

For this year, 51 percent of the respondents placed trust in Jokowi to make things better.

Djayadi said that the public perception about the economic situation was in line with the decreasing rate of inflation. Citing inflation data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he pointed out that when the inflation rate increased, the public'€™s positive perception of the economic situation plunged and it got better when the inflation rate went down.

'€œThis perception could be a valid reference for the government for evaluation because the public itself really feels the impact of inflation,'€ Djayadi said.

However, the survey also reveals that Jokowi still has many challenges ahead, particularly concerning the people'€™s welfare, as 60 percent of respondents still find it difficult to fulfill their basic needs, such as for staple foods, 71 percent are seeing an increase of unemployment, 63 percent consider that the poor are becoming more numerous and 70 percent feel that it is getting more difficult to get jobs.

'€œThose are big challenges for the President in ensuring a more even distribution of welfare,'€ Djayadi said, adding that Jokowi needed to be more focused on the economic agenda and not be too busy with political ones.

J. Kristiadi, a senior political analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said he was amazed by the positive attitude of Indonesian people in applauding Jokowi for his performance despite the economic downturn.

'€œPeople still trust Jokowi because of his personality. They know he is a good person. He'€™s very simple and close to people. So they still see a hope inside him. No matter that people consider he can lead better this year,'€ Kristiadi said.

Djayadi added that Jokowi needed to show a stronger commitment toward combating corruption as 61 percent out of respondents said they considered that corruption in the country was increasing.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is the third most trusted institution, as 82.9 percent of the public said they trusted it, after the Indonesian Military (TNI) with 89.6 percent and the President with 83.7 percent.

Executive director of Jakarta-based pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, said that Jokowi should immediately show his support of the antigraft body through his stance on the revision of the KPK Law.

'€œHe has to show a clear stance toward the revision, whether he is in pro or con. If he doesn'€™t back the KPK, then he fails to prove his anticorruption commitment and will lose support for the 2019 general election,'€ Burhanuddin said.

The survey also showed that the public'€™s perception of the working performance of Jokowi'€™s Cabinet is divided, with 51 percent of respondents having said they were satisfied and the rest saying they were not.

'€œThis can be a reference for Jokowi to evaluate his ministries. If he wants to do another reshuffle, just do it because the public supports him,'€ Djayadi said.
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