Jokowi could be game changer in 2014

JAKARTA. Another public opinion poll found that Jakarta Governor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is the most electable political candidate for the 2014 presidential election, beating Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) chief patron Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto and former vice president Jusuf Kalla.

The survey, conducted by the little-known Jakarta Survey Institute (LSJ), was released on Tuesday.

Jokowi topped the list of the 12 most electable politicians for the presidential election with 21.2 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him if the election was held today.

Trailing behind Jokowi was Prabowo with 10.9 percent, People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) chairman and former Indonesian Military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto with 9.8 percent, and Kalla with 8.9 percent.

Jokowi, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was more popular than the party’s chairperson, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had the support of 7.2 percent of the respondents.

LSJ researcher Rendy Kurnia said Jokowi was popular among respondents because of the media attention he received long before he was elected Jakarta Governor in October last year.

“Jokowi appears to met the people’s high expectations of a new figure who could lead the country,” he said.

Responding to the survey, Jokowi said, “I don’t want to think about it.” The Surakarta native said that he wanted to focus on tackling Jakarta’s problems.

The LSJ study also predicted that the Golkar Party would come out on top in the 2014 legislative election 18.5 percent of the respondents saying they would vote for it. The PDI-P came in second place with 16.5 percent, followed by the Gerindra Party with 10.3 percent.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party is in distant fourth place with 6.9 percent, lower than the 8 percent predicted by the Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC). (The Jakarta Post)