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View all search resultsWhat SBY and Jokowi can teach Prabowo about regaining public trust
History proves political recovery is entirely possible. SBY and Jokowi successfully restored their approval ratings above 50 percent. Not only did they improve their numbers, both went on win re-election.
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President Prabowo Subianto inspects the implementation of the free nutritious meal program on June 2 at State Junior High School (SMPN) 111 Jakarta. (Courtesy of/The Palace's Press Bureau (BPMI))
T
empo Data Science’s survey in August showed President Prabowo Subianto approval rating hovers at about 40 percent. In July, Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting’s (SMRC) phone survey placed the president’s approval rating at 51.1 per cent.
Despite methodological differences between pollsters, the trend is clear: Prabowo’s approval rating has fallen significantly since peaking around 80 percent in January 2025. Both surveys attribute the drop in Prabowo’s ratings to growing public dissatisfaction with the economy, politics and law enforcement.
In more than two decades, falling under the 50-percent psychological threshold is a rare setback for an Indonesian president as the public generally judges presidential performance with leniency.
Lembaga Survei Indonesia’s (LSI) data shows that Indonesian presidential approval has fallen below 50 percent only twice since 2004. Approval ratings fell to 45 percent under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in June 2008, and to 40 percent under Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in June 2015.
Indonesian presidential approval ratings live and die primarily by how the public views the economy, even if non-economic factors still carry weight. The lowest approval ratings for both SBY and Jokowi illustrates this rule. Rising global oil prices forced both leaders to slash fuel subsidies to free up fiscal space, everyday costs soared and, ultimately, their approval ratings tanked.
Both predecessors faced falling global commodity prices and economic turbulence. SBY dealt with the fallout of the US financial crisis, while Jokowi navigated China’s economic deceleration.
Prabowo’s declining approval rating mirrors that of his predecessors, rooted firmly in public economic dissatisfaction. Today’s economic pressures are also partially caused by the global economic and geopolitical situation, particularly Trump tariffs and the Middle East conflict. The latter has already forced the Prabowo administration to raise non-subsidized fuel prices.
