REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- The competition between the two presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs in the run-up to the July 9 presidential election is increasingly stiff, political observer Nicolaus Pira Bunga of the Kupang-based Nusa Cendana University said.

"The harsh efforts of the success teams of the two presidential candidate pairs and the mass media publications have boosted the stiffness of the competition," Nicolaus said here on Thursday.

He added that the mass media continued to publicize the electability statistics of the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa and the Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla (Jokowi-JK) pairs.

The observer cited the results of a survey by the Cyrus Network conducted on May 25-31, 2014, which showed that the Prabowo-Hatta pair's electability statistic was 38.8 percent, while that of the Jokowi-JK duo was 51.6 percent.

The results of this survey differed from that of the Indonesian Polling and Survey Institute (SPIN), which showed that the electability statistic of the Prabowo-Hatta pair was 44.9 percent, while that of the Jokowi-JK duo was 40.1 percent, he said.

He added that the SPIN survey was conducted on June 1-4, 2014, by telephone.

Nicolaus also admitted that the increasing trend of the Prabowo team's electability statistic occurred after the General Elections Commission (KPU) held a declaration on peaceful elections on June 3, 2014.

Currently, there are two presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs, Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla and the Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa, who will contest in the upcoming July 9 presidential election.

The Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla duo is supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), the National Democrat Party (Nasdem), the National Awakening Party (PKB), and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) with 207 seats or 36.96 percent of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s 560 seats.

The Prabowo-Hatta duo is supported by the Greater Indonesia Movement (Gerindra), the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party, the Prosperous Justice Party, the United Development Party (PPP), and the Crescent and Star Party (PBB) with 292 seats or 52.14 percent in the parliament.

Prabowo Subianto is a retired military general and the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), while his running mate, Hatta Rajasa, is a former coordinating minister for economic affairs and the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Jokowi is Jakarta's governor and a cadre of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, is a former vice president and a senior politician of the Golkar Party.

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