Indonesian President Joko Widodo swept to power on a wave of optimism for the country, but has he lived up to voters’ expectations? Colin Brown looks at the ups and downs of Jokowi.
The victory of Joko Widodo – commonly known as Jokowi – in the July 2014 Indonesian Presidential election was seen by many Indonesian observers as a circuit-breaker. Jokowi presented as Mr Clean, the businessman turned politician ready to tackle the country’s vested interest groups, to straighten out its political and economic order, to eliminate (or at least to reduce substantially) corruption.
His victory was all the more symbolically important for who he defeated: Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general, former son-in-law of Soeharto, and a man seen by his opponents at least as the antithesis of a modern, clean political leader.
Like their Indonesian counterparts, international observers were also generally positive, though often tempering enthusiasm with warnings of the significant problems Jokowi faced in trying to meet voters’ expectations of him.
Jokowi’s first year and a half in office suggest that many of those reservations were justified.
Please click here to read the full “Assessing the Jokowi Presidency” article in Asia & The Pacific Policy Society by Griffith Asia Institute Adjunct Professor, Colin Brown.