JAKARTA: The approval rating of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto dropped further to 44.5% ahead of his two-year anniversary in office, a poll showed on Friday, with dissatisfaction over economic conditions and his flagship programmes.
Prabowo's rating has been falling since late last year in surveys by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), with 51.1% approval in July, 66.4% in March and 81.2% in November.
The polls had 1,213 respondents and an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.9%.
The decline in the October 1-10 survey came from dissatisfaction about economic and political conditions, law enforcement and implementation of Prabowo's free meals and village cooperatives programmes, SMRC's executive director Deni Irvani said.
The polls showed 50.8% of respondents believed economic conditions were bad and 43.1% felt they had worsened compared to last year.
High prices of staple foods were the most mentioned problem, followed by corruption and poverty, Deni said.
About 62% of respondents were dissatisfied with the free meals programme and 71.4% doubted Prabowo's village cooperatives policy would succeed.
"Rather than boosting Prabowo's popularity among public, the programmes made him less appreciated. It's a paradox," Deni said.
Prabowo's signature free meals scheme has been marred by food poisoning cases affecting more than 50,000 people, plus allegations of corruption and poor governance