The latest electability survey by Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) has found that novice politician Kaesang Pangarep was one of the most popular prospective candidates in the Central Java gubernatorial race – largely riding on the high approval rating of his father outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
With just less than two months left until the three-day registration period for political party- backed candidates opens, political parties have begun eyeing potential candidates for the regional elections in November, when Indonesians will for the first time simultaneously elect their respective governors, mayors and regents.
In Central Java, the LSI survey found that Kaesang, Jokowi’s youngest son, could be one of the names to beat in the country’s third most populous province and is generally seen as one of strongholds of Jokowi’s former party the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Kaesang just entered politics last year on Sept. 23, when he joined the self-styled youth party Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) and eventually became its chair just two days later.
LSI interviewed 1,200 respondents of voting age by phone from June 21 to 26 across Central Java, and the results of the survey had a 2.8 percent margin of error, with a 95 percent confidence level.
While a large majority of respondents in an open-ended query said that they were still undecided about their preferred candidates, Kaesang was relatively popular among those who had made up their minds.
Kaesang came second behind Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Ahmad Luthfi, a close ally of Jokowi, with 2.5 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Kaesang and 5.2 percent for Luthfi.
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