Ahok`s Electability Plummets Following November 4 Rally

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Incumbent Jakarta Gubernatorial candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s electability plummeted following the November 4 Rally, based on a survey conducted through face-to-face interviews by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on 440 respondents from October 31 to November 5, 2016.

In the survey, Ahok and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat gained 24.4 percent of supports, down from 31.4 percent in October and 49.1 percent in July.

“One of the main factors [of the decreasing electability] was certainly the allegation of religious defamation,” LSI researcher Adjie Alfaraby said on Thursday, November 10, 2016.

Despite the dropping electability, the pair remains the most popular candidates compared to their rivals. The Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair occupied the second place with an electability of 20.9 percent, and the Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno pair gained 20 percent. About 34 percent of the respondents said that they did not make up their choices.

Adjie revealed that Ahok’s supporters decided to become swing voters after the November 4 Rally. Earlier in October, the percentage of swing voters was 28.2 percent.

Of 440 respondents, 65.7 percent said that Ahok had committed blasphemy in his statement that cited Surah al-Maidah verse 51, and 13.5 percent said that he committed no blasphemy. The rest did not respond to the question. In addition, 63.7 percent of the same respondents urged a legal process against Ahok.

Earlier on November 4, 2016, a huge number of Muslims rallied to the State Palace urging police to investigate the allegation of religious blasphemy committed by Ahok. The case is currently handled by the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Corps.

Adjie revealed that Ahok remains popular among male respondents, while the majority of Agus’ supporters are females. Agus and Anies are popular among Muslims voters, while Ahok maintains his popularity among non-Muslim voters.

INDRI MAULIDAR