By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Two main Indonesian political parties, namely Functional Groups (Golkar) and Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have remained favorite ahead of next year’s general election, the Jakarta Post daily Wednesday quoted a new survey as saying.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s popularity has dropped below that of predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The survey by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta-based think-tank found that Golkar remained the most popular party, with 20.3 percent of respondents. Support for the PDI-P was at 18.1 percent.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) which has a strong basis among Indonesian moderate Moslem was in third with 11.8 percent.
The National Awakening Party and the Democratic Party ranked fourth and fifth, with 6.8 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.
The Democratic Party was a temporary phenomena during the 2004 elections. The party earned unanimous votes together with Yudhoyono’s rising popularity.
But recent surveys conducted by several institutions showed reversed results seeing Yudhoyono’s failure in improving Indonesian’s economy.