Jokowi deemed early presidential favourite by surveys

December 03, 2013
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JAKARTA, Indonesia – A public opinion poll released Sunday (December 1st) by think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would win the 2014 presidential election if it were held now, local media reported.

Jokowi, of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), received 34.7% of respondent support, compared to just 10.7% for Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party leader Prabowo Subianto. CSIS interviewed 1,180 people between November 13th and 20th.

"We found that Jokowi garnered support from across the political parties. This has never happened before," CSIS department of politics and international relations chair Philips J. Vermonte said in a press conference, according to The Jakarta Post.

But 22.8% said they still don't know who they'd vote for in the 2014 election, Antara reported.

Another survey, taken by Indikator, found Jokowi would receive 47.4% of the vote, compared to Prabowo with 15.8%.

Democratic Party politician Ruhut Sitompul criticised the poll and the voters now supporting Jokowi, according to kompas.com.

"Jokowi was governor just for one month and was said to be a presidential candidate. Only an unhealthy person would ask Jokowi to become a presidential candidate," Ruhut said Monday, expressing confidence his party would choose a candidate capable of defeating Jokowi.

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