TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Saiful Mujani Research Consulting (SMRC) stated that the electability of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) for the 2019 presidential election has improved based on a poll as of December 2017.

“The electability exceeds the 2014 general election result,” said SMRC Executive Director Djayadi Hanan on Thursday, January 25. PDIP’s electability significantly improved from 18.95 percent in the 2014 elections to the current 27.6 percent.

The reason behind the high electability is driven by the public’s positive perception towards President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Djayadi reasons that the party’s electability depends on President Jokowi’s performance.

According to Djayadi, the poll held earlier this month that involved 1,220 respondents reflects the public’s satisfaction towards President Jokowi’s performance. However, political parties can still improve their electability during this year’s simultaneous regional head elections.

Political parties with electabilities under 4 percent such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) still has the chance to improve their electability.

The poll done by SMRC corresponds with the poll done by Lingkaran Survey Indonesia (LSI). LSI’s poll from April 2014 to January 2018 suggest that the electability of PDIP and Golkar tend to improve for the 2019 presidential election.

ENDRI KURNIAWATI