Yudhoyono, or SBY as he is often referred to in Indonesia, won a five-year term in 2004 when he promised to tackle widespread corruption.
Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has fallen in popularity, mainly due to the country’s slower economic growth, but he would still win an election if one were held today, a poll on Sunday showed.
Yudhoyono, or SBY as he is often referred to in Indonesia, won a five-year term in 2004 when he promised to tackle widespread corruption, spur economic growth and create jobs.
His government has struggled to deliver on some of those promises, and Yudhoyono has not yet given a clear signal whether he intends to stand for re-election in 2009.
Leading private polling firm Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) said support for Yudhoyono fell to 54 percent in its most recent survey, compared with 80 percent in October 2004 when he beat former President Megawati Sukarnoputri for the presidency, and 55.5 percent in June 2007.
His rating hit a low of 49.7 percent in March this year following widespread flooding.
“The main cause is people have high expectations for the government, while the ability of the government to deliver on those expectations is still low,” said Saiful Mujani, head of the LSI, adding that economic growth of 4 to 6 percent was considered too low by those polled.
In addition to slower-than-expected economic growth, those polled cited Yudhoyono’s weak leadership, and said that unemployment and poverty were the two most urgent issues that the government needed to tackle.
Confidence in the country’s corruption eradication programme also fell, from 65.1 percent in October 2004 to 45 percent this month, the poll showed.
Indonesia has struggled to attract foreign investment and boost economic growth, which came in at 5.5 percent in 2006.
But thanks to lower interest rates and a global commodities boom, the government is targeting growth this year of 6.3 percent, the fastest pace in 11 years, and 6.8 percent in 2008.
“Many people would still re-elect SBY for president rather than other figures if the election were to be conducted now,” Mujani said.
The poll showed that Yudhoyono would get 34 percent of the vote if an election were held now, similar to what he got in the first round of the 2004 presidential election.
In Indonesia, if no candidate gets more than 50 percent in the first round, there is a run-off between the two candidates who receive the most votes.
The survey showed that Yudhoyono remains popular with the more affluent voters, who tend to be better educated, but not with middle and lower income groups. His popularity has fallen in Java, the most populous island in the archipelago, and Bali.
The LSI interviewed 1,300 respondents between September and early October.
08/10/2007