TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive director of Lingkar Madani pollster Madani Ray Rangkuti said supporters of Prabowo Subianto, chairman of the Great Indonesia Party (Gerindra)’s Advisory Council, were overconfident in nominating the chairman against Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo in the upcoming presidential race. Ray said Prabowo was only relying on commercials rather than political activities.
Ray explained Indonesian politicians were indeed renowned for their confidence, citing the hasty move of a certain party that had just passed the verification stage yet already set a vote target of six percent.
“Those are Indonesian politicians. They measure their targets by the number of their flags, banners and commercial footage duration,” Ray told Tempo on Monday, September 9, 2013.
In Prabowo’s case, he added, it was obvious the retired general’s popularity was at a standstill of 30 percent, whereas Jokowi’s continued to climb to plausibly 40 percent. Ray said Gerindra’s top man electability would sink further if he continued to rely on commercials rather than political activities as political arsenals.
On the other side, he continued, Jokowi’s popularity was on the rise. “Of course his position as Jakarta Governor also contributed to his popularity.” Ray said the governor’s increasing electability would continue should he display a fine performance during the next six months.
Ray suggested all cadres of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) continue their hard work. Ray said the cadres had grown more solid and found a harmony between the people’s demand and the party’s policies so Jokowi must seize the momentum for a presidential bid.
Previously, the Gerindra party slammed the possible candidacy of the Jakarta Governor as PDI-P’s presidential hopeful in the 2014 presidential race. Gerindra chairman Suhardi said the governor must first and foremost complete his duties as the capital’s governor.
“We are the ones who introduced and made him famous. It is unfortunate if he changed his committment,” he said.
FEBRIANA FIRDAUS
