JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (pic) saw his approval rating climb to almost 80% in a survey last month that was carried out before one of the country’s biggest market selloffs since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
About 79.9% of Indonesians interviewed said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Prabowo’s performance, according to the survey released on Sunday by Indikator Politik Indonesia. It polled 1,220 participants across the country from Jan. 15-21, and has a margin of error of 2.9%. The rating climbed from 78% in November, Indikator said.
The survey showed Prabowo, who took office in October 2024, remained most popular among the Gen Z and those living in villages. Respondents said the most urgent issues for the government to address were controlling the prices of food staples, eradicating corruption and providing more jobs.
Concerns over transparency, governance and policy consistency under Prabowo’s presidency have been rising. The benchmark stock index suffered its worst two-day rout since 1998 late last month after index compiler MSCI Inc. warned that the emerging market could be downgraded to frontier status because of a lack of liquidity and transparency in the stock market.
While regulators announced a series of reforms to stem the market fallout, Moody’s Ratings on Thursday lowered its outlook on the country’s credit rating to negative, citing "reduced predictability in policymaking” and poor communication by the government.
In power for a little more than a year, Prabowo has been centralizing control, squeezing tycoons, expanding the military’s role in government and putting confidants into key roles, including installing his nephew at the central bank. Sustained public support would reinforce Prabowo’s political mandate, giving him room to press ahead with an agenda centered on expansive social spending and a larger role for the state, even as markets urge caution.
Prabowo’s flagship free meals program remained popular among survey respondents, with 72.8% saying they were satisfied with it. - Bloomberg
