JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—Nearly two-thirds of respondents expressed satisfaction with President Prabowo Subianto’s government in a new Parameter Politik Indonesia (PPI) survey, but economic hardship and poorly targeted social assistance remained prominent sources of dissatisfaction.

The national poll, released in Jakarta on Sunday, Oct. 18, recorded a 65.4 percent approval rating for the government. Another 32.5 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction, while 2.1 percent either skipped the question or said they were unsure.

“When respondents who said they were very satisfied and satisfied are combined, the total reaches 65.4 percent,” PPI Executive Director Adi Prayitno said during an online presentation of the survey.

The poll separately assessed Prabowo’s personal performance. It found that 65.2 percent of respondents approved of his work, consisting of 62.3 percent who were satisfied and 2.9 percent who were very satisfied. The slight difference between the two figures reflects separate questions about the government and the president.

Public confidence in the administration’s ability to carry out its responsibilities was marginally higher. About 67 percent believed the government would perform its duties effectively, while 24.4 percent were pessimistic and 8.6 percent gave no answer.

“Sixty-seven percent of the public remain optimistic that the government will be able to carry out its obligations properly,” Adi said.

Social-assistance programs received the highest recognition among the government’s initiatives, with 15.9 percent of respondents naming them as its best-performing program. Sekolah Rakyat, a government-backed school program for children from low-income families, followed with 12.6 percent.

The Free Meals (MBG) program ranked third at 11 percent. Free education through university received 8.1 percent, while the Free Health Check program placed fifth, according to the Cabinet Secretariat.

The survey showed significant geographical differences in assessments of Prabowo. Approval reached 81.3 percent among respondents in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. It stood at 70.9 percent across Bali, Nusa Tenggara and eastern Indonesia.

The rate was 65.5 percent in Banten, Jakarta and West Java, compared with 63.1 percent in Sumatra. Central Java, East Java and Yogyakarta recorded the lowest regional figure at 57.6 percent.

Approval was also higher outside Java, where 70.1 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction, compared with 61.4 percent on Java. Rural approval reached 70.2 percent, while the corresponding urban figure was 61.4 percent.

Respondents classified by PPI as lower-income recorded the highest approval rate at 75.3 percent. Approval declined to 25 percent among those in the highest-income category.

However, PPI did not publish subgroup sample sizes in the reports reviewed, meaning smaller demographic categories may carry greater statistical uncertainty than the headline national result.

Economic conditions dominated the reasons given by dissatisfied respondents. About 11.8 percent said the economy had become more difficult or deteriorated.

Another 11.4 percent cited poorly targeted social assistance, while 10.4 percent pointed to high prices for essential goods. Expanded social assistance was also the most common reason for satisfaction, illustrating differing experiences of the same policy.

PPI conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 voting-age or married respondents from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6. It used multistage random sampling across 38 provinces, 116 regencies and cities, 120 districts and 120 villages. The poll reported a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of approximately 2.83 percentage points.

The PPI result provides a snapshot of public opinion rather than a definitive judgment on government performance. It also should not be directly compared with polls conducted by other institutions without accounting for differences in timing, sampling and survey questions.