Jokowi-Kalla still in the lead, says survey

Candidate pair Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Jusuf Kalla has extended their lead over rival ticket, Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa, the latest survey commissioned by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) has shown.

The survey conducted at the beginning of July reveals that Jokowi-Kalla led Prabowo-Hatta, 47.80 percent to 44.20 percent, partly thanks to strong support from the lower and middle classes.

LSI researcher Fitri Hari said the Jokowi-Kalla ticket’s electability had seen a significant increase compared to June. At that time, the candidate pair that was assigned the official number two on the ballots obtained 43.5 percent of the vote, only a slight difference from rival Prabowo-Hatta (43 percent).

Among the factors bolstering Jokowi-Kalla’s popularity was the strengthened support of grass roots thanks to their effective door-to-door campaigning.

“Jokowi-Kalla’s programs, such as Kartu Indonesia Sehat [Indonesia Health Cards] and Kartu Indonesia Pintar [Indonesia Smart Cards], are seen as influencing factors,” said Fitri as quoted by kompas.com.

It was further said Jokowi-Kalla had also gained middle and upper class voters thanks to support from artists and celebrities in social media. “Their campaign machine works,” said Fitri.

Despite the achievements, the researcher said, a defeat was still possible, due to the high number of swing voters (8 percent).

The survey, conducted from July 2 to 5, involved 2,400 respondents and conducted via direct interviews using a questionnaire with a margin of error of less than 2 percent. The LSI survey was self-funded