PDI-P Loses Popularity Poll to Golkar, Democratic Parties

Ezra Sihite &Markus Junianto Sihaloho

Ezra Sihite &Markus Junianto Sihaloho

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said on Friday that it was stunned by a recent survey that placed the party third in an assessment of popularity, a change from the top spot it has received in other polls.

Survey group Charta Politika on Aug. 30 placed the party, known as the PDI-P, in third place, with 10.8 percent of voters saying they would support it.

Golkar Party garnered the top spot with 18 percent, and the ruling Democratic Party had 12.4 percent.

PDI-P House of Representatives chairwoman Puan Maharani said she was shocked by the result, saying she believed the party’s position in the poll was due to the survey’s margin of error.

“The margin of error was 3.4 to 4 percent, and there are still many swing voters. That is why we want to hear [the results] in person,” she said.

Puan, the daughter of former president and current PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri, said the party had invited Charta lead researcher Yunarto Wijaya to present the group’s findings.

“This survey must be evaluated and analyzed because the dynamics will continue in weeks, months and years to come,” she said.

The PDI-P came first or second in other surveys, amid a decline in support for the Democratic Party due to a slew of corruption cases involving several of its leading politicians.

Puan said the PDI-P wanted to discuss the party’s chances at the 2014 legislative and presidential elections with other survey groups.

The PDI-P, she said, is looking to attract more young voters, whom she described as creative and productive.

Puan said the group was attempting to get more women elected to the legislature.

The number of women ready to join the party’s legislative team was less than 20 percent of the total, she said.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) earlier mandated parties to have at least 30 percent of its candidates be women across the country in order to pass the verification process, a crucial step to entering the electoral race.

Puan said women make up only 18 percent of the current crop of PDI-P lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

The party, she said, is not only looking to meet the 30 percent goal nationally, but also at provincial and district levels.

Several analysts have said that the PDI-P’s best hope to boost its popularity is for its candidate, Solo Mayor Joko Widodo, to win the Jakarta gubernatorial race.

Joko will face incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo in a runoff election scheduled for Sept. 20. Fauzi is backed by a coalition led by the Democratic Party.

But Charta’s Yunarto said that if Joko won, it would benefit Joko’s other political backer, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), more than it would the PDI-P.

Charta’s survey mentioned Gerindra, founded by military figure Prabowo Subianto, as “a dark horse,” placing the party in fourth place behind the PDI-P with 4.7 percent.

Yunarto declined to elaborate, saying that his company would need to conduct further research. He did not say who had funded the latest survey.