Prabowo Leads the Poll by 47.7% Ahead of First Presidential Debate on Tuesday

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Prabowo Subianto is leading in the polls by a wide margin ahead of the first presidential debate on Tuesday night (12/12). According to the latest polls by Populi Center and Litbang Kompas, Prabowo received 47.7% and 39.3% respectively. 

The Populi Center's poll also found that support from Prabowo increased from 43.1% in November. Both Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo only received dismal 21.7% support.

This is Prabowo's third attempt to be a president, and this time he has departed from his "Asian Tiger" rhetoric and tried a new cutesy "gemoy" persona, complete with a dance move to attract younger voters. 

During a rally in Kuningan, West Java, Anies Baswedan was seemingly unbothered by the polls and playfully asked his supporters whether they were ever asked in a survey. His supporters answered "no" en masse.

"Then who were ever surveyed?" asked Anies.

Vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD also tried to underplay the polls. Ganjar Pranowo is the least popular candidate according to Litbang Kompas, receiving only 15.3% support. Mahfud said surveys can change any day.

However, Litbang Kompas noted that 28.7% voters are still undecided, and their votes can be the deciding factor.

The election commission has announced five debates for this election season. The first one will start on Tuesday night and it will cover legal and human rights issues. Among 11 panelists, more than half are from academia, mostly from Middle Java and Yogyakarta universities, few of them are from outside Java. 

Merdeka.com contributed to this report.