Indonesian President's Party shoots up in polls

INDONESIAN: A new poll has found rising support for the political party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the lead up to elections this year, a report said Monday.

Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, currently a minority player in his governing coalition, has strengthened its lead as the most popular party among voters, according to a poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) cited by the Jakarta Post daily. The Democratic Party won 23 percent support, surging ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, which won the support of 17.1 percent of voters, it said.

The largest party in Yudhyono's multi-party parliamentary coalition, Golkar, won 13.3 percent support.

"The Democratic party continues to widen its lead while Golkar continues to fall behind, and the PDI-P is meanwhile stagnant," LSI director Saiful Mujan said.

An October LSI poll also found the Democratic Party in the lead, with 16.8 percent support.

"The Democratic party's rise has been driven by the success of Yudhoyono and his administration in the eyes of the people, as the party is known as the government's party,"

Mujani added. Jakarta, Monday, AFP