Fitria Chusna Farisa, Jakarta – The endorsement or support of a presidential candidate by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will of course influence voters' political preferences. The head of state's endorsement however is not that significant.
This pattern was recorded in a Kompas Research & Development (Litbang Kompas) survey released on Wednesday August 23. According to the survey, only 18.1 percent of respondents will vote for a presidential candidate endorsed by Widodo.
The majority or almost half of respondents, namely 49.7 percent claim they will still consider, think about and weigh up their decision on the quality of the presidential candidate recommended.
The remainder, almost one-third or 32.6 percent of respondents confirmed that they will not vote for whichever presidential candidate is recommended by Widodo.
The same survey also showed that the public appreciates candidates that have a commitment to continuing the government's development programs rather than one that just relies on Widodo's endorsement.
The survey showed that the electability of the three presidential candidates in the 2024 elections increases significantly if they are prepared to continue the program of the previous administration, rather than if they just obtain the head of state's support.
The electability of the Greater Indonesia Movement Party's (Gerindra) presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, for example, would increase by around 3.8 percent if he obtains Widodo's endorsement.
However if the Defense Minister shows a commitment to continue Widodo's program, his electability rises by 4.1 percent.
Meanwhile the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, would increase his electability by 0.8 percent if he is supported by Widodo.
However, the East Java governor's electability will grow by 2.8 percent if he pledges to continue the government's programs.
This is also the case for the Coalition for Change and Unity's candidate, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan. His electability will rise by 1.4 percent if he is supported by Widodo and by 2.9 percent if he continues the current administration's programs.
The latest Litbang Kompas survey also maps out the electability of the three presidential candidates in general terms. Prabowo and Pranowo's electability ratings are tightly competitive.
Ganjar is recorded as being slightly superior to Prabowo, both in open simulations, simulations with 10 names, five names and three names. The difference however, is still within the margin of error.
“In the latest Kompas survey, Pranowo's electability is 24.9 percent, Prabowo's is 24.6 percent and Anies Baswedan's 12.7 percent", wrote Litbang Kompas as quoted by Kompas.id on Tuesday August 22.
The survey was held between July 27 and August 7 and involved 1,364 respondents in 38 provinces spread across 331 villages or wards in Indonesia.
Using face-to-face interviews, the survey had a 95 percent level of confidence and a 2.65 percent margin of error. The survey was entirely funded by the Kompas Daily newspaper.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Survei Litbang “Kompas”: 32 Persen Responden Tak Akan Pilih Capres yang Di-“endorse” Jokowi".]
