Jokowi was nominated by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), to run in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as Ahok) as his running mate. Jokowi was elected governor of Jakarta on 20 September 2012 after a second round runoff election in which he defeated the incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo. Jokowi's win was widely seen as reflecting popular voter support for "new" or "clean" leaders rather than the "old" style of politics in Indonesia.
Jokowi's popularity across Indonesia rose sharply following his election to the high-profile position of governor of Jakarta. During 2013 and early 2014 he was increasingly seen as a potential PDI-P candidate for the Indonesian presidential election in 2014. His nomination was announced on 14 March 2014.
The presidential election was held on 9 July. After some controversy about the result of the election, Jokowi was named as president-elect on 22 July 2014. He was formally declared as the winner of the election by the General Elections Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum or KPU), winning more than 53% of the vote over his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race before the count was completed.
Early life and education
Joko Widodo is of Javanese descent. Before changing his name (changes of name are not unusual in Java), Joko Widodo was called Mulyono. His father came from Karanganyar, his grandparents came from a village in Boyolali. His education started in State Primary School 111, Tirtoyoso, known for being a school for less wealthy citizens.
Due to financial difficulties in his childhood, he had to work his way through primary school to earn enough money for school materials and pocket money. At twelve, he started working in his father's furniture workshop. The evictions he experienced three times in his childhood affected his way of thinking and his leadership later on as the mayor of Surakarta (Solo) as he organised housing in the city.
After primary school, he continued his studies in SMP Negeri 1 Surakarta (middle school). He had wanted to continue his education in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta (high school), but he failed the entrance exam and went to SMA Negeri 6 Surakarta instead.
He continued his education in the Forestry Faculty of Gadjah Mada University. He made use of this chance to study the structure of wood, its utilisation, and its technology. He completed his degree with the thesis called: "Study on Plywood Consumption in Final Consumption in Surakarta municipality".
After his graduation in 1985, he worked for BUMN PT Kertas Kraft Aceh and was placed in Pinus merkusii forest plantation at Gayo Highlands, Aceh Tengah Regency. Nevertheless, he didn't feel at home and went home to his wife, who was seven months pregnant. He was determined to work with wood in his uncle Miyono's business named CV Roda Jati. In 1988, he started his own business under the name of CV Rakabu, referring to his first child (Rakabuming). The business was quite successful; however due to fraud, it had problems and was closed. In 1990, he tried again with money (Rp 30,000,000, around $16,000) borrowed from his mother.
" Jokowi Blusukan "
Political career
Mayor of Surakarta
When he first ran for the office of mayor of Surakarta, many doubted the ability of a man who had worked as a property and furniture businessman; however, after a year in office Jokowi had successfully led many progressive breakthroughs which became widely praised nationally. One academic paper claimed his leadership style was successful because it established an interactional relationship with the people of Solo, through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities (which he frequently traveled to as a businessman) into his own city of Surakarta.
Highlights of Jokowi's approach during the seven years that he was mayor of Surakarta include the following:
- Building new traditional markets – including an antiques market and a home appliances market
- Constructing a 7-km city walk with a 3-meter wide pedestrian walkway along Surakarta's main street
- Revitalizing the Balekambang and Sriwedari parks
- Stricter regulations on cutting down trees along the city's main streets
- Rebranding Surakarta as a center of Javanese culture and tourism under the tagline "The Spirit of Java"
- Promoting the city as a center for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE)
- The blusukan culture, the manner in which Jokowi made impromptu visits to certain areas to hear directly from the people their needs and criticisms
- Prohibiting his family members from bidding for city projects
- Healthcare insurance program for all residents
- Public transportation in the form of double-decker buses and the railbus
- Solo Techno Park, which helped support the Esemka Indonesian car project
His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership. Branding the city with the motto "Solo: The Spirit of Java" was seen as a successful move. While in office he was able to relocate junk dealers in the Banjarsari Gardens smoothly, a move which was helpful in revitalizing the functions of the open green land; he emphasized the importance of business firms engaging in community activities; he improved communications with the local community (appearing regularly on local television). Jokowi also did not hesitate to dismiss investors who do not agree with the principles of his leadership. As a follow-up of the new branding of Surakarta, he applied for Surakarta to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, which was approved in 2006, and subsequently had Surakarta chosen to host the organization's conference in October 2008. In 2007, Surakarta had also hosted the World Music Festival (Festival Musik Dunia/FMD) which was held at the Fort Vastenburg Complex (it is worth noting that Fort Vastenburg was to be bulldozed and replaced by a business center and shopping malls before Jokowi vetoed the decision). The FMD in 2008 was held in the Mangkunegaran Palace Complex.
Part of Jokowi's personal style was his populist "can-do" (punya gaye) elements designed to build bonds with the broad electorate. This approach proved highly effective. As just one example, as mayor of Surakarta, he became personally involved in an incident just before Christmas 2011 when the Surakarta municipality had overdue bills of close to $1 million (Rp 8.9 billion) owing to state-owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). Following PLN company policy to pursue a more disciplined approach to collecting overdue bills, the PLN imposed a blackout on street lamps in Surakarta just before Christmas. The city municipality quickly authorized payment but in settling the bill protested that the PLN should consider the public interest before taking this type of action. To reinforce the point, Jokowi made a highly publicized personal visit to the local PLN office to deliver the Rp 8.9 billion in cash in the form of hundreds of bundles of notes and even small coins.
Such interaction-oriented approach quickly raised Jokowi's prominence at the national level. Among others, he was chosen as the Tempo's Leaders of Choice by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received a Changemakers Award from Republika newspaper (2010); his name also started being considered in national polls for governorship of Jakarta way before his party nomination of him to run for the post, including those by Universitas Indonesia and Cyrus Network (2011).
Governor of Jakarta
Jokowi was an active and high-profile governor of Jakarta. He followed the practice (known as blusukan) of regularly arranging well-publicized visits to local communities, often in quite poor areas, across Jakarta (see below). His broad approach was widely said to reflect the similar, successful style of administration that he adopted while mayor of Surakarta between 2005 and 2007. His inner circle of advisers in Jakarta was reported to include people such as FX Hadi 'Rudy' Rudyatmo, Sumartono Hadinoto, and Anggit Nugroho who were colleagues while he was mayor of Surakarta as well as Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, his deputy as governor of Jakarta.
Policies as Governor
Blusukan
Not so much a policy as a general approach, Jokowi actively carried out the practice known as blusukan of regularly visiting quite poor areas across Jakarta. During these visits, he wore simple informal clothes and made a point of spending time in markets or walking along narrow Jakarta lanes (gangs) to chat to people about problems like the price of food, housing difficulties, local flooding, and transport. Polling and media coverage suggested that Jokowi's hands-on style proved very popular both in Jakarta and elsewhere across Indonesia.
Lelang Jabatan
Jokowi created a new system of bureaucratic recruitment called "lelang jabatan" (literally auction of office position). In this system, every civil servant had the same opportunity to achieve a certain position by fulfilling the required qualifications and passing the test. The test results were announced transparently and the provincial government appointed the qualified civil servant in accordance to their achievements and qualifications.
Health care program
Early after taking office in late 2012 Jokowi introduced a universal health care program in Jakarta, based on a Healthy Jakarta Card (Kartu Jakarta Sehat or KJS). The program proved to be very popular. However, the KJS program also generated controversy because implementation problems quickly became evident. ] The demand for health services from hospitals across Jakarta jumped sharply putting great pressure on the limited services available. Demand for health services surged by 70% in the first few months. The program involved an insurance program provided through the state-owned insurance company PT Askes Indonesia (Persero) and a plan to regulate health charges for treatment for over 20,000 services and procedures.There was confusion over the details of the implementation of the system and long waiting queues for services caused dissatisfaction. The long queues even generated a market for middlemen who offered line-waiting services for up to Rp 150,000 (around $US 15 at end-2013 exchange rates). The various problems led to criticism of Jokowi in the Jakarta regional parliament that he was promoting a populist, poorly-designed program. However Jokowi defended the popular KJS program and counseled patience.
Educational program
Jokowi launched the "Smart Jakarta Card" on 1 December 2012, in order to help poor students in Jakarta. This card gives an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs in order to buy school needs such as books and uniforms. The usage of the card is constantly monitored and is not allowed to be used for other purposes .
Public transportation
On 10 October 2013, Jokowi inaugurated the construction of Jakarta MRT, which previously was delayed for years. Subsequently, on 16 October 2013, Jokowi also restarted the construction of the green line of Jakarta Monorail.
Financial reforms
After Jokowi took office, the provincial budget of Jakarta increased significantly from Rp 41 trillion in 2012 to Rp 72 trillion in 2014. This was achieved through transparency, efficiency, e-catalog, and e-budgetting.
Transparency
Jokowi and his vice governor, Basuki, publicized their monthly salary and the provincial budget. They also initiated programs aimed towards transparency, such as online taxes, e-budgeting, e-purchasing, and a cash management system. Moreover, all meetings and activities that were attended by Jokowi and Basuki were recorded and uploaded on YouTube.
Revamping street vendors and traditional markets
Jokowi regulated the chaotic agglomeration of street vendors in Pasar Minggu and Pasar Tanah Abang by relocating them to a new building, as these street vendors were causing horrendous traffic jams. He also built and renovated five traditional markets in 2013 and four traditional markets in 2014. The vendors in these markets are not charged for rent, although they are required to maintain their kiosks and to not sell them. They are only asked to pay for maintenance, electricity, and water costs.
Flood control
In 2013, Joko Widodo initiated dredging and reservoir normalization projects in order to reduce flood problems. Three of the most notable projects were the normalization of Pluit Reservoir, Ria Rio Reservoir, and Pesanggrahan River. These projects involved the relocation of settlements around the reservoirs, in which Jokowi used the "lunch diplomacy" tactic to obtain agreement from the local populace. After the inhabitants of these settlements were successfully moved to a new location, the dredging commenced, and the project was praised by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte as successful. These projects helped to reduce the extent of flood in 2014.
Presidential candidacy
Megawati Sukarnoputri had chosen Joko Widodo to be the presidential candidate of her party.
Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla travelled to many parts of Indonesia for his campaign, most notably West Papua. His mayorship in Surakarta and his governorship in Jakarta further boosted his popularity around Indonesia. Because of his interest in loud music, many musicians around Indonesia, including the cast of Jalanan, volunteered to create a song titled Salam 2 Jari as part of his campaign. Also because of his interest in loud music, several international artists — Jason Mraz, Sting, Bumblefoot and Arkarna — posted their support for him on Twitter and Facebook, tagging #Jokowi9Juli and in Arkarna's case, #ArkarnaVoteJokowi.
After hearing the Quick Count results of many different polls, Joko Widodo declared victory on 9 July. However, his rival Prabowo Subianto also declared victory, leaving Indonesian citizens confused. Jokowi asked his supporters to cancel any celebrations for his victory. While most of Prabowo's supporters tried to congratulate Jokowi, fighting occurred between other Prabowo and Jokowi supporters days before the official announcements. To prevent this from happening, Joko Widodo disallowed the use of his usual off-duty attire, checkered clothing, and Prabowo's usual attire, white clothing, for his supporters and told them not to leave their homes for their own safety.
On 22 July, hours before the announcement of the election results, Prabowo withdrew. A victory for Joko Widodo was expected and realized hours later. The Commission gave Joko Widodo a close victory of 53.15 percent of the vote (representing 70,997,859 voters), to Prabowo's 46.85 percent (62,576,444 votes), though Prabowo's camp disputed these totals.
After his victory, Joko Widodo stated that, growing up under the authoritarian and corrupt New Order, he would have never expected someone with a lower-class background to become president. The New York Times reported him as saying "now, it's quite similar to America, yeah? There is the American dream, and here we have the Indonesian dream". Joko Widodo was the first Indonesian president to not be from the military or the political elite, and the political commentator Salim Said gave the popular view of the politician as "someone who is our neighbor, who decided to get into politics and run for president".
" Joko Widodo taking the presidential oath of office during his inauguration on 20 October 2014 "
President of Indonesia
After being sworn in as president, Joko Widodo started a healthcare and education program similar to what he had initiated while serving as a mayor and a governor
Awards and honours
National honours
Bintang Jasa Utama – 2011
Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna – 2014
Foreign honours
Brunei Brunei
BRU Family Order of Brunei 1st Class.svg Darjah Kerabat Laila Utama Yang Amat Dihormati (DK) – 2015
Other
2008: Listed by Tempo as one of the 'Top 10 Indonesian Mayors of 2008'.
2012: 3rd place at the 2012 World Mayor Prize for "transforming a crime-ridden city into a regional center for art and culture and an attractive city to tourists.
2013: Listed as one of "The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013" in Foreign Policy. In February 2013 he was nominated as the global mayor of the month by the The City Mayors Foundation based in London.
2014: Listed by Fortune as one of the 'The World's 50 Greatest Leaders'
Personal life
According to The Economist, Jokowi "has a penchant for loud rock music" and once owned a bass guitar signed by Robert Trujillo of heavy-metal band Metallica. He is a fan of Metallica, Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin and Napalm Death, a grindcore band that is known for their utilitarian, liberal political views. Napalm Death also congratulated the president on their Facebook fan page recently. In 2 November 2013, while he was the Governor of Jakarta, he was seen in the rock festival Rock in Solo, at Surakarta, in casual dress. It was the second time he was seen in this rock festival, with the first being in 2011's Rock in Solo.
Family
Joko Widodo is the eldest son of Noto Mihardjo and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo. He has three younger sisters, named Iit Sriyantini, Ida Yati and Titik Relawati.
He and his wife, Iriana, have three children. Gibran Rakabuming Raka (male, born 1 October 1988) has a catering and wedding-planning business in Surakarta; he has studied abroad in Sydney and Singapore (at the Management Development Institute of Singapore, MDIS). Kahiyang Ayu (female) was born in 1991; she has recently completed an undergraduate degree in food technology at the state-run Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta. Kaesang Pangarep (male) was born on 25 December 1994 and like his elder brother completed his high school years in ACS International, Singapore.
Film adaptation
In June 2013, a film depicting Jokowi's childhood and youth was released. Jokowi expressed some objections to the film saying that he felt his life had been a simple one and was not worthy of being presented as a film.
Reference Wikipedia
