JAKARTA (Reuters) – Nearly 81% of Indonesians approve of President Prabowo Subianto after 100 days in office, a poll showed on Monday, attributing the high rating to his early delivery on campaign promises.
The Jan. 4-10 survey by the research unit of newspaper Kompas, showed 80.9% of the 1,000 respondents were satisfied because of his people-oriented leadership and that he had made a start on most of his campaign platforms.
Prabowo also had a good image as a president, 94.1% of respondents said.
Prabowo took office in October last year after winning a presidential election by a huge margin, with Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of predecessor Joko Widodo, his running mate. Prabowo beat Widodo’s score of 65.1% after his first 100 days.
“Those who were satisfied reasoned that every programme promised had started to be implemented,” Kompas said, notably Prabowo’s signature, multi-billion dollar free nutritious meal scheme, which started on Jan. 6 for school children and pregnant women.
Prabowo is seeking to fast-track the programme to reach its target of nearly 83 million recipients – more than a quarter of the population – by year-end. Some economists have warned the additional debt to fund it could hurt Indonesia’s recent hard-won reputation for fiscal prudence.
Kompas said respondents expected the free meal programme to be sustainable in the long run.
Another reason for his high rating was the administration’s decision to restrict an increase in value-added tax to only luxury goods and services, Kompas said, adding respondents also praised Prabowo’s plans to give free medical check ups, renovate schools and build more hospitals.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Martin Petty)
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