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New Pollster, Same Result: Public Faith in SBY Falling Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s public approval rating is declining, while those of rival political parties are gaining against his Democratic Party, according to a new survey that adds to the growing of evidence of waning support for the president. Released on Sunday, the survey by new pollster Jaringan Suara Indonesia (Indonesian Voice Network) indicated the president’s approval rating was at 53 percent. The figure, the pollster said, represented a steep decline from a survey conducted by a separate pollster, Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), which put the number at 70 percent in January 2010 and 62 percent in October 2010. “We used the LSI result as a comparison because our survey is the first conducted [by us] at the national level,” Jaringan executive director Widdi Aswindi said on Sunday. The JSI survey was conducted from Oct. 10-15 and involved 1,200 respondents across the country. The results mirrored the trend monitored by a third pollster, the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), which put the president’s approval rating at 57 percent in January, 47 percent in June and 38 percent in October. Widdi said 62 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with how Yudhoyono handled corruption cases, particularly the Bank Century bailout scandal and the major graft case surrounding an athletes village for next month’s Southeast Asian Games. Respondents also highlighted Yudhoyono’s failure in delivering promises he made when starting his second term in office in October 2009, Widdi said. “There are at least eight promises that have not been delivered, like reduction of unemployment and poverty, people’s welfare improvement, bureaucratic reform, corruption eradication, the fight against cronyism and nepotism, the construction of apartments for the poor, the equality of regional development and self sufficiency in food,” he said. Saan Mustofa, a senior member of the Democratic Party, said the latest survey result would be used by the party to evaluate and improve the government’s performance. “The dissatisfaction is reasonable because the public had very high hopes for the government at the start of the current term,” Saan said. But Saan denied claims the government lacked commitment to tackling graft. “The government has entrusted the [Century] case to KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], the police and the prosecutors,” he said. The survey by JSI also found support for retired Army general Prabowo Subianto to stand for president in 2014. The founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) was rated more popular than other potential candidates, including Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Radjasa and media mogul Surya Paloh. Only former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), could beat Prabowo’s popularity. Copyright ©2011 Jakarta Globe, All Rights Reserved About Us | Privacy Policy | Comment Policy | Sitemap | RSS Feed Visit Us On Facebook Follow Us On Twitter Berita Satu Media Holdings Citra Graha Building 11th Floor, Suite 1102 | Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto Kav. 35-36 | Jakarta 12650 | Indonesia Phone: +62 21 29957500 | Fax: +62 21 5200072 | Berita Satu Media Holding