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Legislative race a toss-up between PDI-P, Gerindra
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Workers sort and fold ballots for the 2024 legislative election on Dec. 13, 2023, in Denpasar, Bali. (Antara/Fikri Yusuf)
The February legislative race remains a toss-up between the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and its staunch rival Gerindra Party, which has forged closer ties to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, surveys show, as they compete to dominate the House of Representatives after Jokowi’s tenure ends.
The PDI-P has dominated the legislative elections for the past decade. But it has seen its dominance being challenged by rival Gerindra, which leads a nine-way alliance backing frontrunner Prabowo Subianto that casts itself as “team Jokowi”. Public opinion polls show Gerindra has been increasingly closing the gap with the PDI-P ahead of February’s presidential and legislative elections.
A mid-December survey released by the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Wednesday found that the PDI-P remained the most popular party, although it commanded a narrowing lead over its nearest challenger, Gerindra.
The survey, conducted between Dec. 13 and 18, showed that the PDI-P was the most electable party, with public support of 16.4 percent, while Gerindra, which is led by Prabowo, followed close behind with an electability rating of 14.6 percent.
The CSIS polled 1,300 people of voting age in person nationwide after the first presidential debate, and the results had a 2.7 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.
“Even though the PDI-P came out on top in our recent poll, the situation is still very dynamic and is still prone to change. It is very possible that Gerindra could catch up,” CSIS political department head Arya Fernandes told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Not to mention, he said, the PDI-P’s lead over Gerindra was “increasingly narrowing [in other surveys by various pollsters], which should serve as an alarm for the PDI-P to recalibrate its strategy”.
