Indonesians give Jokowi star treatment

JAKARTA - When presidential candidate Joko Widodo visited a three-storey shopping centre in Cianjur, West Java, last Saturday afternoon, salesmen and shoppers rushed to greet him and snap photos.

At supermarket chain Ramayana, the dangdut song Jokowi, as the Jakarta governor is called, was on replay, with the lyrics: "Jokowi goes to the ground, searching for the truth. Jokowi pays attention, the people are easy..."

Bag seller Sahipah, 42, tells The Straits Times: "We see many candidates on TV, but Mr Jokowi is the only one who seems genuinely concerned about ordinary people like us."

As Indonesia's general election campaign enters its final week, no other politician is getting such rousing reactions as the lanky Mr Joko, 52, the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle's (PDI-P) contender for the July presidential polls.

For now, Mr Joko is reminding crowds to work hard for the April 9 general election.

Parties or coalitions first need to secure 20 per cent of seats in Parliament or 25 per cent of the vote on April 9 to field a presidential candidate. Recent opinion polls suggest this is almost certain for the party of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, as it seeks to end a decade in opposition.

But Mr Joko's clear lead has his opponents going on the offensive. His presidential bid has caused him to neglect his promise to serve the capital, they say. Others call him a puppet who cannot act on his own.

"The people's puppet, yes," Mr Joko retorted last Saturday. "I just ignore it. I don't want to mock or vilify others."

Mr Joko had earlier told The Straits Times that leadership, to him, was first about listening to people's aspirations, and gaining their trust.

It is this homey trait that has been crucial in his rapid rise in less than a decade - from elected mayor of mid-sized Solo City, population 500,000, to governor of the capital of 10 million and now front runner to succeed outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to lead the nation of 250 million.

As senior economist Fauzi Ichsan puts it: "Jokowi represents the new generation of leaders who serve the people, rather than expecting to be served."

On a recent campaign trip to Lampung, Mr Joko flew economy class and ate at a roadside stall.

There are concerns that if elected, Mr Joko lacks the economic and foreign policy experience to govern well, but Mr Fauzi says there have been positive signs and he will likely rope in a good team.

Last December, for instance, Mr Joko wanted to ban subsidised fuel in Jakarta - displaying savvy in wanting to balance the national budget - and suggested that he might allocate the savings to infrastructure and direct subsidies for the poor. He has also travelled widely, in Asia and Europe, as a businessman and sought to put Solo on the global map of heritage cities.

Mr Joko's formative years helped shape his outlook on life and politics.

He was born in Solo, the eldest of four children of a struggling carpenter and housewife who frequently moved from one rundown rented shack to another on the flood-prone banks of a canal.

Writer Yon Thayrun, 46, who shadowed Mr Joko in Solo for a 2012 book, told The Straits Times: "He wants people to not be bogged down by fate as he was when he was growing up."

This means ensuring the poor stay in school, and get free health care and cheap housing.

In Solo and Jakarta, he set aside funds for poor students to pay for books, uniforms, bus fares and meals during recess.

Mr Joko, a rock music fan, graduated first in his year in high school, and after working with his uncle's furniture business, decided to study forestry at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, where he graduated in 1985.

He worked for a state-owned pulp and paper company in Aceh, married his university sweetheart Iriana a year later, and returned to Solo in 1987 when their first son Gibran was due. They have another daughter and a younger son, who is studying in Singapore.

Back in his home town, Mr Joko soon started a furniture company, which grew to employ more than 1,000 workers. He exported his products as far away as Europe.

His peers made him the first chairman of the Solo committee of the Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicraft Association (Asmindo) when it was set up in 2002. In 2005, they persuaded him to contest the city's first direct mayoral election.

After winning 36 per cent of the vote on the PDI-P ticket, Mr Joko and his deputy got down to fixing the city. They relocated street vendors, made it easier to get business licences and revitalised the city centre.

Vendors protested, but after Mr Joko began to consult residents, he won them over.

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In 2010, he was re-elected with 91 per cent of the vote. Two years later, PDI-P leaders fielded Mr Joko as a candidate for Jakarta's gubernatorial elections.

In the capital, he has faced a harder time tackling issues like traffic congestion, flooding and graft. He has relocated street vendors from the congested Tanah Abang shopping area into a market complex, resettled squatters from the banks of a major dam, and sacked corrupt officials.

These have won much support, but also draw considerable criticism from disgruntled vendors, among others - and it remains an open question whether a similar consultative style will work for national problems.

Still, many hope Mr Joko lives up to his billing as a doer.

"He may not be the guy who makes the most beautiful speeches, but people need somebody who they can trust and gets things done," said Mr Wuddy Warsono, country head for Indonesia at brokerage and investment bank CLSA.

Mr Joko has also stood up for pluralism, defending a local district leader in Jakarta against protests from some Muslim residents who objected to her being a Christian.

A devout Muslim who makes stops for five daily prayers, Mr Joko also speaks his mind to religious groups.

And at a dialogue with leaders of the 40-million strong Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama earlier this month, Mr Joko lamented how their faith placed great emphasis on honesty and integrity, but such qualities were lacking today.

"Our founding kyai were not political brokers, but farmers," he said, using a term for religious leaders. "Today's politics seems to be about a race to control state resources, rather than do good for the people."

Is it not difficult to stay upright in a liberal, capitalist environment, a member of the audience asked.

"It's about the system," Mr Joko quipped. "Look at Singapore, many of our people are there. They are also good."

zakirh@sph.com.sg

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