Former Central Java Police chief Ahmad Luthfi and former military chief Andika Perkasa remain locked in tight competition for Central Java governor, as shown in two surveys released a week before voting day on Nov. 27.
An opinion poll released by Indikator Politik Indonesia on Sunday showed that Luthfi and running mate Muslim cleric Taj Yasin Maimoen were leading with 47.2 percent, but Andika and his running mate Hendrar “Hendi” Prihadi, a former Semarang mayor, follow closely with 43.5 percent. The remaining 9.3 percent of respondents were undecided in the survey that took place from Nov. 7 to 13.
But Luthfi’s 3.7 percentage-point lead over Andika, who is running on the ticket of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is still considered too narrow, with Indikator founder Burhanuddin Muhtadi saying the competition is still too close to call.
“Because of the very small gap [between the two candidates] and the remaining respondents who are still undecided, anything can happen on voting day,” Burhanuddin said during the release of the survey results on Sunday.
Indikator also found that 29.5 percent of all respondents, regardless of their current preference, said they might yet still change their minds.
Indikator polled 1,900 respondents of voting age across Central Java in person and the results of the survey had a 2.3 percent margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.
Central Java has become the proxy battleground between the PDI-P, the largest party in Central Java, and former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who has openly endorsed Luthfi over the past week. Luthfi and Yasin are running on the ticket of the grand alliance led by the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) that supports the administration of President Prabowo Subianto.
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