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Public support for Jokowi, Kalla remains high

JAKARTA — A survey published yesterday revealed that public support for the administration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla remains high, despite their controversial fuel subsidy cut.

JAKARTA — A survey published yesterday revealed that public support for the administration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla remains high, despite their controversial fuel subsidy cut.

The survey was conducted by Cyrus Network, a private research institution, involving 1,220 respondents in 33 provinces. The main focus of the research was gauging public support for the Joko-Kalla administration after two months in office.

The results showed that most people still supported Mr Widodo and his team, but that many keep a close eye on their policy plans.

“Seventy per cent of the respondents are sure that the Joko-Kalla administration will bring improvement and welfare to Indonesia, even though 57 per cent of respondents didn’t agree with the fuel price hike,” Cyrus Network CEO Hasan Hasbi said yesterday.

The electability of Mr Widodo and Mr Kalla has declined, but only by a few percentage points. The survey found that 54 per cent of respondents had voted for Joko-Kalla in July, but if a re-election were held today, only 52 per cent would vote for the pair again.

“This could be a reassurance for the Joko-Kalla administration to stay confident. However, they still have to be cautious, as the number of those who didn’t vote for them in the first place was high and they tend to be more critical in responding to the government’s policies,” Mr Hasbi explained.

Most of the criticism was related to the perceived influence of Ms Megawati Soekarnoputri and Mr Surya Paloh on the President’s decisions, including on the formation of the Cabinet. Ms Megawati is chairperson of Mr Widodo’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while Mr Paloh heads the National Democratic (Nasdem) Party, which also supports the President.

“However, the majority still regard this influence as a positive thing. We can see this from the 68 per cent who didn’t agree with the statement that Mr Widodo can be called a ‘puppet President’; 21.8 (per cent) did agree with the statement, while the rest said they didn’t know,” Mr Hasbi said.

Last month, Mr Widodo raised the price of subsidised petrol and diesel by more than 30 per cent to help fund his reform agenda and tackle the country’s budget and current account deficits. The government increased the price of subsidised petrol to 8,500 rupiah per litre and that of subsidised diesel to 7,500 rupiah per litre. The fuels previously sold for 6,500 rupiah and 5,500 rupiah per litre, respectively. Indonesia currently sets domestic fuel prices below the market price, with the government subsidising the difference.

The subsidy cut was needed to save between 100 trillion rupiah (S$10.6 billion) and 120 trillion rupiah in the national budget, which would be diverted to irrigation, health and infrastructure projects, among others.

While the reduction in government subsidies was widely viewed as the right move towards getting Indonesia’s economy back on track, for those at the bottom, it meant a harder time in the short term.

However, many Indonesians were unfazed by the fuel price hike, taking to social media to show their support for Mr Widodo’s decision.

THE JAKARTA GLOBE

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