TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsDiscontent over policies, leadership erodes Prabowo’s footing
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President Prabowo Subianto wipes his face moments before delivering his annual State of the Nation Address on Aug. 15, 2025, ahead of Indonesia’s Independence Day in Jakarta. (AFP/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Pool)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto's political standing has weakened significantly nearly two years into his term, a shift analysts attribute to a growing public disillusionment with the government's handling of the economy, implementation of flagship policies and his leadership style.
Prabowo's approval rating has fallen to 51.1 percent in July from 81.2 percent in November last year, according to a survey from Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), as public confidence in the economy, politics and law enforcement weakened.
Prabowo’s electability has also taken a hit, slipping to 14.5 percent from 34.9 percent over the same period, according to the SMRC survey, leaving the Gerindra Party chairman well behind his party member, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi, who led the poll with 35 percent support.
The findings stand in contrast to the early years of his two predecessors, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, whose approval ratings either remained steady or strengthened during the first two years of their first term in office.
“If the presidential election were held today and Prabowo ran as a candidate, he would likely not be reelected,” SMRC executive director Deni Irvani said last week, adding that mounting dissatisfaction with the administration had begun to erode the electoral advantage typically enjoyed by first-term incumbents.
Analysts from other institutions interviewed by The Jakarta Post agreed that the sudden dip in Prabowo’s popularity should serve as a “serious warning” for the President who came to power in late 2024 with a strong public mandate, having won the election by a landslide.
Read also: Free meals, other populist policies contribute to Prabowo’s high approval rating
