Indonesian Defence Minister Leads In Pre- Election Survey

Indonesia’s Defence Minister, a Former Commander of its Special Forces, topped an opinion poll published on Wednesday, as candidates prepared to register for a presidential race next year that is expected to be close.

Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo, the Former Governor of Central Java, have dominated surveys prior to elections in the trillion-dollar G20 economy that is the world’s third-largest democracy, trailed by Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

Pollster Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) said 34% of respondents would vote for Prabowo in a nationwide telephone poll of 1,206 people in September that had a 2.9% margin of error.

The shares of those choosing Ganjar and Anies, respectively, were 30.4% and 22%, while 13% did not answer or said they did not know.

In a two-way runoff, Prabowo would win over Ganjar by about 11 points, the pollster’s chief, Djayadi Hanan, told a press conference.

The number of those undecided may reflect the fact that none of the three men has formally registered to be a candidate yet, said Philips J. Vermonte, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

REUTERS