JAKARTA: Former Central Java police chief Ahmad Luthfi and former military chief Andika Perkasa remain in a tight competition for Central Java governor, two surveys released a week before polling day on the 27th show november.

An opinion poll released Sunday by Indikator Politik Indonesia showed Luthfi and his running mate, Muslim cleric Taj Yasin Maimoen, leading with 47.2 percent, but Andika and his running mate Hendrar “Hendi” Prihadi, former mayor of Semarang, follows closely with 43.5 percent. hundred.

The remaining 9.3 percent of respondents were undecided in the survey which took place November 7-13. But Luthfi’s lead of 3.7 percentage points over Andika, who is running on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) list, is still considered too small, with Indikator founder Burhanuddin Muhtadi saying. saying the competition is still too tight to call.

“Due to the very small gap (between the two candidates) and the number of respondents still undecided, anything can happen on voting day,” Burhanuddin said when the survey results were released on Sunday.

Indikator also found that 29.5 percent of all respondents, regardless of their current preference, said they might still change their minds.

Indikator surveyed 1,900 voting-age people in Central Java in person and the survey results had a margin of error of 2.3 percent with a confidence level of 95 percent.

Central Java has become the proxy battleground between the PDI-P, the largest party in Central Java, and former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who openly supported Luthfi last week.

Luthfi and Yasin are running on the ticket of the grand alliance led by the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) which supports the administration of President Prabowo Subianto.

The Indikator survey came a day after another polling firm, Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), published its own opinion poll showing that it was the Andika-Hendi couple who led the race, but by a slim margin of 3.4 percentage points.

Andika-Hendi’s electability rose from 48.1 percent in October to 50.4 percent, when they overtook Luthfi-Yasin as favorites.

Luthfi-Yasin stood at 47 percent this month, down slightly from 47.5 percent in October.

The remaining 2.6 percent were undecided, down slightly from 4.4 percent last month.

The results of the SMRC survey, which involved a face-to-face interview of 1,200 people of voting age in Central Java from November 7 to 12, had a margin of error of 2.9 for hundred and a confidence interval of 95 percent.

Despite contrasting results over who is ahead in Central Java elections, the SMRC concluded that Andika’s 3.4 percentage point lead over Luthfi is too narrow and remains within the margin of error .

“Statistically speaking, the competition for the gubernatorial seat is still too close to call,” SMRC executive director Deni Irvani said Saturday.

This is not the first time that opinion polls have given conflicting results on the favorites in the upcoming simultaneous nationwide regional elections.

On October 23, Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) released opinion poll results on the three-way race for Jakarta governor, showing Pramono Anung and his running mate Rano Karno leading with an electability of 41, 6 percent, surpassing Ridwan Kamil and his running mate. Suswono.

A day later, Poltracking Indonesia released its survey which took place around the same time as the LSI poll.

The Poltracking survey, however, had mixed results, with Ridwan and Suswono remaining ahead of the race after their electability increased slightly to 51.6 percent in October from 47.5 in September. – Jakarta/ANN post