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Surging prices may erode Jokowi’s support
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Vendors wait for customers at a traditional market in Tangerang, Banten, on April 3, 2022. (AFP/Adek Berry)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's approval ratings have taken a modest hit amid rising inflation, with analysts undecided as to how far his popularity might further wane.
Indonesians have been feeling the pinch of the rising global commodity prices and an energy crisis that have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with staple food and fuel prices soaring at home.
Bawono Kumoro from pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia said there was a possibility that the rising prices would undermine the public’s confidence in Jokowi’s administration.
"High gas prices and staple goods are among the most salient issues. People feel the immediate effects in their everyday life," Bawono said on Thursday.
"Almost every time we do a survey, in which we ask about what the most pressing problems are to them, the answers almost always are, except during the pandemic, the prices of basic necessities, unemployment, and other economic issues."
In the past few months, cooking oil prices have risen by more than 40 percent annually, data from the Trade Ministry show. People are standing in line to buy bulk cooking oil at government-capped prices, about half of the market price, which is limited in supply.
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