East Kalimantan Regional Head Election Survey: Rudy Masud-Seno Aji 51.7 Percent, Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi 36.4 Percent

The pair of candidates for governor and deputy governor Rudy Masud-Seno Aji (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Survey Panel (PSI) released the results of a survey regarding the political preferences of the people of East Kalimantan (Kaltim) ahead of the Pilkada scheduled for November 27, 2024. As a result, support for candidate pairs for governor and deputy governor Rudy Masud-Seno Aji reached 51.7 percent, beating the incumbent Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi with 36.4 percent.

"The Rudy Masud-Seno Aji pair received the highest electability with 51.7 percent support. The incumbent pair Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi was chosen by 36.4 percent of respondents. Meanwhile, 12.9 percent said they did not vote," said PSI Executive Director Mahendra Zaini, in his statement Friday, October 11.

When using voice paper simulations, Zaini continued, the two pairs of candidates experienced an increase in votes. The Rudy Masud-Seno Aji pair won 56.7 percent of the votes, while the incumbent pair got 38.9 percent of the votes.

"Meanwhile, 4.4 percent of respondents did not vote," said Zaini.

Zaini said that the community's choice for the Rudy Masud-Seno Aji pair was quite strong, reaching 89 percent. A thin match with the incumbent pair Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi who got 88.7 percent.

"This shows that most of the respondents are confident in their choice," said Zaini.

Zaini said that the level of public recognition of the two pairs of candidates for the head of East Kalimantan ahead of the Pilkada was already relatively high. In general, the introduction of the two names of candidates has reached more than 72 percent.

With this significant level of introduction, Zaini assessed, the public already knows the candidate for regional head they will choose.

"For the introduction of the candidate pair for governor and deputy governor of East Kalimantan, the incumbent Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi reached 89.1 percent, while the Rudy Mas'ud-Seno Aji pair got 87.4 percent," said Zaini.

In terms of the level of preference, the survey found that the candidate pair for governor Rudy Masud and deputy governor Seno Aji won 81.9 percent. Meanwhile, the incumbent pair Isran Noor-Hadi Mulyadi was only 64.4 percent. This, said Zaini, shows that the public prefers candidates from Rudy Masud-Seno Aji.

Meanwhile, regarding public awareness about the Pilkada which will take place on November 27, 2024, the survey results show that the level of awareness has been evenly distributed in East Kalimantan, reaching an average of 80 percent in seven districts and three cities.

"The enthusiasm to participate in the Pilkada is also fairly high, reaching 85.3 percent," said Zaini.

The survey also identified several issues that the public expected from the results of the upcoming regional elections. As many as 87.7 percent of respondents hope that new leaders can create jobs, while 89.8 percent hope that basic food prices can be affordable.

In addition, 80.7 percent of respondents expect road infrastructure improvements and construction in seven districts and cities in East Kalimantan. A total of 89.6 percent also want cheap and affordable education costs for low-income people, and 78.9 percent hope that there will be free health facilities and infrastructure.

Zaini stated that the results of this survey provide a clear picture of the political choices of the people of East Kalimantan ahead of the elections.

"The pair Rudy Masud-Seno Aji seem to have great potential to win the East Kalimantan Pilkada," said Zaini.

This survey was conducted in the period 22 September - 4 October 2024 through face-to-face interviews involving 1,600 respondents spread across seven districts and cities in East Kalimantan Province.

The method applied is multistage random sampling, which allows random sampling with certain strata. The margin of error for this survey is around 2.44 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.