(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo's approval rating has surged early in his second term, with the majority of the voters satisfied with the performance of his top ministers, according to a survey.
His government's approval rating stood at 70.1% in the first 100 days of his second five-year term, compared with 57.5% during the same period in 2015, independent surveyor Indo Barometer said in a statement. The voters were most satisfied with the country's democratic processes, including freedom of speech and liberty to choose leaders in the world's fourth-largest populous nation, the surveyor said.
The high approval rating should allow Jokowi, as Widodo is known, to push ahead with sweeping economic reforms meant to boost investment and create jobs for the millions of unemployed in Southeast Asia's largest economy. The president has initiated steps to overhaul the nation's rigid labor laws, lower the corporate tax rate and build a new capital to ease pressure on a congested and sinking Jakarta.
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The approval for Jokowi's cabinet rose to 54.4% from 46.8% in the first term as key ministers scored on delivering results, choice of the right people for the job and experience, Barometer said. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who was inducted into the cabinet after losing out to Jokowi in the presidential race for a second time, had the highest approval rating, followed by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
Here are some other highlights of the survey done by Baromoter during Jan. 9-15 among 1,200 nationwide respondents.
- Economy, employment, prices of staple food, corruption remain voters' the top concern
- Public satisfaction over Vice President Ma'ruf Amin is at 49.6%, less than 53.3% scored by his predecessor Jusuf Kalla
- 84% of the respondents agreed democracy is the best form of government, up from 77.3% five years ago
--With assistance from Tassia Sipahutar.
To contact the reporter on this story: Arys Aditya in Jakarta at aaditya5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Thomas Kutty Abraham
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