Jokowi’s approval rating remains high

JOKOWI - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s approval rating has remained high, according to a new poll by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), despite his failure to reduce inequality. 

In the CSIS poll, the results of which were released on Tuesday, 68 percent of 1,000 respondents interviewed between Aug. 23 and 30 claimed they were satisfied with Jokowi’s performance. Only 67 percent and 51 percent said so in similar surveys in 2016 and 2015, respectively, according to the think tank.

The CSIS measured public perception of Jokowi’s performance in three sectors: the economy, law enforcement and infrastructure and maritime development.

Jokowi scored the highest in infrastructure and maritime development, with 75 percent of respondents saying they approved of Jokowi’s work in the sector.

“Physical development such as infrastructure development has been [highly] appreciated by the people,” CSIS executive director Philips Vermonte said. 

Meanwhile, 64 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with law enforcement under Jokowi, even though he has been criticized for his failure to protect the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is currently under attack from politicians. 

Jokowi is also perceived to be doing better with the economy, with respondents saying they were satisfied with the economy rising from 47 percent last year to 57 percent this year, even though the poverty rate has hovered around 10 percent in the last two years. 

The poverty rate in March hit 10.64 percent, down 0.06 point from 10.7 percent in September 2016, while the Gini ratio was 0.393, down only 0.001 point from September last year.

“Even though the public think nothing has changed with regard to the economy, the level of support [for Jokowi] remains high. There’s a level of trust that has not changed,” Vermonte said.