Jakarta. Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo leads by more than 8 percentage points in a hypothetical race against two main contenders Prabowo Subianto and Anies Baswedan, according to the latest survey on the 2024 presidential election by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC).

The survey indicates that the upcoming presidential election will require a runoff if the three men become candidates.

Under this scenario, Ganjar will receive 35.5 percent of the votes; followed by Prabowo with 27.2 percent and Anies with 24.8 percent. SMRC said 12.5 percent of respondents didn't make their choice in a simulated three-man competition.

Over the last two years, the three men's support level has shown a dramatic swing with Ganjar enjoying the biggest gain.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician saw his support soar from 8.8 percent to 26.6 percent when respondents were asked to name a candidate by themselves not limited to certain names.

Anies, the former Jakarta governor, also enjoyed an uptick in support from 11.2 percent to 16.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the support for Defense Minister Prabowo has fallen from 20 percent to 17.6 percent since Ganjar emerged as a potential candidate for the president.

"There is still 14.7 percent of respondents who remain undecided,” SMRC research director Deni Irvani said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil is the closest potential candidate to the three poll leaders, receiving 5.6 percent support.

No other name managed to get more than 2 percent of support in the SMRC survey.

The survey was conducted from March 2-11 involving 1,220 respondents of voting age, with a margin of error plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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