October 29, 2024
JAKARTA – Pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia has released new findings regarding public expectations for Prabowo Subianto’s administration, showing that 85.3 percent of respondents believe he could lead Indonesia toward a better future.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a researcher at the pollster, noted that the public had high expectations and trust for Prabowo.
He described the high expectations as a honeymoon phenomenon, but warned that this strong belief could be a double-edged sword for the President.
“If Prabowo fails to meet public expectations, the resulting disappointment will be significant,” he said on Sunday, as quoted by Liputan6.com.
The survey sampled 1,200 individuals using a simple random sampling method, with a margin of error of 2.9 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
In another survey by the same agency, public support for the free nutritious meals program stands at 77.6 percent.
Burhanuddin said that 86.5 percent of respondents know the program, attributing this high awareness to strong dissemination efforts.
“Support is very high at 77 percent, though this is slightly lower than the public’s confidence in Prabowo at 85 percent,” he said, as quoted by mediaindonesia.com.
The free nutritious meals program ranks first among the Prabowo administration’s initiatives to address stunting and improve human resources and quality of life.
However, Burhanuddin cautioned that high support for the program could backfire if not executed effectively.
“If the program is not successfully implemented, it could diminish public trust in Prabowo,” he said.
Nonetheless, he believed that if Prabowo can demonstrate effective program management, public confidence would remain intact even if the program was not rolled out immediately.
Burhanuddin said that public support for Prabowo was bolstered by his coalition with supporters of his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
“The situation is somewhat different now because Prabowo was elected partly due to Jokowi’s coat-tail effect,” he said.
“Therefore, when Prabowo was elected president, especially alongside Jokowi’s son [Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka], Jokowi’s supporters felt confident in Prabowo.”