Prabowo’s approval rating rises in survey before market turmoil in Indonesia
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's approval rating climbed to almost 80 per cent in January right before the country's biggest market sell-off since 1998.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto saw his approval rating climb to almost 80 per cent in a January survey that was carried out before one of the country’s biggest market sell-offs since the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
About 79.9 per cent of Indonesians interviewed said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Mr Prabowo’s performance, according to the survey released on Feb 8 by Indikator Politik Indonesia. It polled 1,220 participants across the country from Jan 15 to 21, and has a margin of error of 2.9 per cent. The rating climbed from 78 per cent in November 2025, Indikator said.
The survey showed Mr Prabowo, who took office in October 2024, remained most popular among the Gen Z and those living in villages.
Respondents said the most urgent issues for the government to address were controlling the prices of food staples, eradicating corruption and providing more jobs.
Concerns over transparency, governance and policy consistency under Mr Prabowo’s presidency have been rising. The benchmark stock index suffered its worst two-day rout since 1998 late in January after index compiler MSCI warned that the emerging market could be downgraded to frontier status because of a lack of liquidity and transparency in the stock market.
While regulators announced a series of reforms to stem the market fallout, Moody’s Ratings on Feb 5 lowered its outlook on the country’s credit rating to negative, citing “reduced predictability in policymaking” and poor communication by the government.
In power for a little more than a year, Mr Prabowo has been centralising control, squeezing tycoons, expanding the military’s role in government
Sustained public support would reinforce Mr Prabowo’s political mandate, giving him room to press ahead with an agenda centered on expansive social spending and a larger role for the state, even as markets urge caution.
Mr Prabowo’s flagship free meals programme remained popular among survey respondents, with 72.8 per cent saying they were satisfied with it. BLOOMBERG
