JAKARTA - Indonesian presidential hopeful Ganjar Pranowo led an opinion poll on Monday for the first time since election season formally got underway in October, nudging ahead of close rival and defence minister Prabowo Subianto.
The Oct 26 to Oct 31 survey by Charta Politika showed 36.8 per cent of 2,400 respondents backed the ruling party’s Mr Ganjar while 34.7 per cent supported Mr Prabowo, with 24.3 per cent in favour of Mr Anies Baswedan, Jakarta’s former governor.
Mr Prabowo, who is making a third run at the presidency, has held a slim lead over former Central Java governor Ganjar in most polls in the past few months, with the two neck and neck for much of the year.
Charta Politika’s surveys since 2021 have mostly put Mr Ganjar in the lead.
The poll also showed some dissatisfaction about outgoing leader Joko Widodo’s role in the presidential race – in particular, a perception of his involvement in a controversial court ruling on eligibility requirements that allowed his son to become Mr Prabowo’s running mate.
Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, has declined to comment on the October decision of the Constitutional Court, of which his brother-in-law is chief justice.
Nearly 40 per cent of those surveyed said they believed Mr Widodo had influenced the court’s decision, while 23.3 per cent did not agree and 37 per cent did not answer or said they did not know.
Nearly half of respondents felt his 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka would be unsuitable for vice-president, while 59 per cent said they disagreed with political dynasties.
Nearly 205 million of Indonesia’s population of more than 270 million are eligible to vote in the elections on Feb 14 in the world’s third-largest democracy.
Mr Widodo is finishing his second and final term and has not formally backed a candidate, though some political insiders say he is quietly playing the role of kingmaker to try to retain influence when he leaves office, having previously pledged support for Mr Ganjar while tacitly backing Mr Prabowo.
Mr Widodo recently said he would not get involved in the race.
Some political experts see the inclusion of Mr Gibran as a move to enable the outgoing president to keep some political clout, while allowing Mr Prabowo to tap into Mr Widodo’s huge support base.
However, Mr Yunarto Wijaya, executive director of Charta Politika, said Mr Prabowo’s decision to run with the president’s son had contributed to Mr Ganjar’s lead in the latest poll.
“Gibran has weakened Prabowo – the issue of dynastic politics, Jokowi, his family, the court’s ruling,” Mr Yunarto said. REUTERS
