Indonesia's new president Joko Wido

Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo promises hope and change
Date
October 19, 2014
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Michael Bachelard and John Garnaut
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Joko "Jokowi" Widodo: Speaks in an unpolished baritone and has a wide smile.
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Indonesian President-elect Joko Widodo sits composed on his last afternoon in the Jakarta governor's office as the noise of angry ranting drifts in from the street outside.
The Islamic Defenders Front, Indonesia's nastiest religious-zealots-cum-street-gang, are hurling rocks and racist abuse because deputy governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and ethnic Chinese man, is within hours of assuming the governorship, the first time for a Chinese-Indonesian.

Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo, popularly known as "Jokowi", and his wife Iriana.
Mr Joko, 53, might be a Muslim from the heartland of Central Java, but his election as Indonesian president is no less revolutionary.
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The man known as Jokowi grew up in a riverbank humpy and made his mark as a furniture manufacturer, then as a regional mayor in Solo. He's self-effacing to a fault, lays claim to no special abilities or qualifications, was never a military general, loves heavy metal music and is widely regarded by ordinary Indonesians as an orang kecil, literally a small person – "one of us".
It's made him insanely popular, particularly in the villages where the majority of Indonesians still live.

The Indonesian president-elect says when he met roadblocks as governor he took his case direct to the people.
The Jakarta political elite, however – cliquey, wealthy and tied together by strong bonds of patronage – hate it. Led by failed presidential aspirants Prabowo Subianto and Aburizal Bakrie, they are throwing rocks at him not in the street, but in parliament, where they control a 63 per cent majority and have passed a flurry of laws designed to thwart him.
Jokowi himself, speaking in halting English, is as unperturbed by what pundits call the elite assault on democracy as by the distant cries of the rabble outside.
"In my experience when working in Solo, I had only 40 per cent [parliamentary support]. Here in Jakarta I have only 11 per cent. Until now I don't have a problem with the council," he says with his trademark grin.
In person, the next president is immediately likeable. He speaks in an unpolished baritone and has a wide smile and an infectious chuckle. An Indonesian newspaper editor complained during the election campaign that his reporters, male and female, kept coming back to the office having fallen in love with the candidate on their first encounter.
When he met roadblocks as governor, Jokowi says, he took his case direct to the people – in some cases posting Youtube videos of himself dressing down officials. Popular support then forced the parliament into line.
In conversation with Joko Widodo, the subject of "the people" comes up constantly. Democracy, in his mind, should be a constant process of ordinary Indonesians keeping their representatives honest. To harness people power more permanently, he wants to become Indonesia's first social media president.
"Now is the horizontal era [of politics]," he says.
"Social media is very important now when we want to send our messages. So we started to get together with our volunteers."
The idea of government-by-volunteer was inspired by his experience of winning support and subsequent activism from Indonesia's net-obsessed young.
"We have the social media group, we have farmers policies, we have fishermen's groups, they go door to door, and they inform [people] about Jokowi," he says.
In the presidential campaign, his own party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, badly dropped the ball, offering limp endorsement and little funding or strategy nous.
Added to his own rampant disorganisation and lacklustre oratory, it nearly lost Jokowi the election. He squandered a 20-plus per cent poll lead to the energetic and professional tilt of former army strongman Prabowo.
It was only in the final week or two that the volunteers, known as relawan, came to the rescue, providing mass support and some memorable campaign images.
Then, as the vote was being counted and Prabowo challenged the election's legitimacy with a series of bogus claims, Joko called on ordinary people to "guard" the vote. Volunteer netizens responded in droves, making it much more difficult to corrupt.
Jokowi has kept tight links with the relawan since. He makes time for them regularly and after Monday's inauguration, hopes to escape the formalities for long enough to attend a heavy metal concert (guest stars Slank) that the volunteers are organising in his honour.
Then he wants them to continue their work for him in government.
"I will ask them to control our program, to control our project after we start," he says.
It's a typical ground-up approach from a man who is determined not to take on the trappings of office. President-elect Jokowi still eats in local street cafes, wears his signature white shirt (untucked), flies economy class and clearly relishes being buffetted by the masses at public appearances. He drives the presidential security detail crazy.
Ground-up also describes his approach to policy.
"He's not a high-concept individual," warns one of his minders before our interview. "He's not an orator, he's a storyteller. That's why he likes blusukan", his patented political tactic of making surprise visits to the field.
Ask high-concept questions about foreign policy or international relations: sovereignty, asylum boats and South China Sea diplomacy, and he consults his notes or looks to adviser Rizal Sukma, whose knowledge on these matters is widely respected.
He admits freely that, on these matters he'll rely on the ministers he'll appoint, likely in the week or two after the inauguration. His job, as he sees it, is to "manage our ministers".
But he is not unaware of the world, including Australia. He has visited as a tourist and is keen for tourism to expand. His son was a student at the University of Technology in Sydney and, as a businessman, he exported goods there.
"I sent a lot of my furniture to Australia for more than 15 years. Many of my Australian buyers came to my city and chose products … flooring and furniture and outdoor furniture … I sent many containers," he says.
Mostly, in these very early days, he views international relations as a businessman might. Ask what might ease the bilateral business relationship, and he talks not about tackling "economic nationalism" (which he broadly favours) but about licensing, logistics, power supply and fuel subsidies.
Jokowi's singular focus on the practical is the inverse of the world view of predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose grand gestures and international glad-handing left little room for actual management.
And it's Indonesia's long neglect of the practical that makes life so tough for so many: the right to clean drinking water and to get goods to market; to have your child's teacher turn up to school and stay the day, or to have an interaction with a government official that does not involve a threat or a bribe.
Government inadequacy at every level, particularly in health and education, blights a country that by now should be doing much better. Ask about what he sees as Indonesia's key challenges, and Joko Widodo has no need for notes.
"The gap between the haves and the have-nots is the one. Income inequality is my challenge," he replies.
"I will deliver by the end of this month our Indonesian smart card to the students from poor families, and this month also I will send Indonesian health cards to the people from poor families."
The cards entitle poor people to free health treatment which, at the moment, they cannot afford. In Jokowi's world view, the demands of the people will drive change through the system. Raise their expectations and they will force government to rise to the challenge.
It's difficult to know if Jokowi thinks of it in this way, but if his bottom-up program succeeds, the flow-through of an Indonesia that works better are clear internationally. Richer, healthier, better educated Indonesians mean a bigger market for Australian goods and services (including tertiary education), more places outside Bali for Australians to easily visit, and more ballast in business-to-business and people-to-people links.
It would improve bilateral relations more surely than a generation of summit-hopping politicians could hope for.
Both countries need this. Fourteen years into the Asian Century, two-way trade with our enormous neighbour is a measly $15 billion.
It would also create a more stable and self-confident Indonesia and a more united regional voice against common threats such as terrorism, dangerous asylum seeker voyagers, or territorial provocations from China.
If it fails, of course, the sky-high expectations Joko has raised could come crashing down on his head.
One thing that might stop him is the inability to get legislation through parliament, something that so far, his enemies appear to be highly motivated to do. The Prabowo team is now promising to be a "constructive" opposition, but while Prabowo on Friday congratulated his erstwhile rival for the first time and called him "a patriot", their track record of bloodyminded obstructionism and the recent promise of Prabowo's brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo to "control the legislative agenda" confer little confidence.
Prabowo is backed by a majority coalition of six parties, a billion dollar fortune, the electoral support of the vast majority of military families (soldiers themselves are prohibited from voting), and the unswerving belief of some parts of the elite that this impostor from the village must be stopped.
Until he has the full machinery o

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Presiden baru Indonesia Joko Widodo menjanjikan harapan dan perubahanTanggal19 Oktober 2014 • Michael Bachelard dan John Garnaut• Twitter • • • • Kirim ke reddit• Email artikel• Cetak • Cetak ulang & izin• Joko Widodo "Jokowi": Berbicara dalam bariton kasar dan memiliki senyum lebar. • Indonesia Joko Widodo terfokus pada pemecahan masalah Papua BaratIndonesia Presiden-Elect Joko Widodo duduk terdiri pada nya terakhir sore di kantor Gubernur Jakarta sebagai kebisingan marah mengomel melayang di jalan di luar.Front Pembela Islam, Indonesia menjijikkan agama-fanatik-cum--geng jalanan, yang melemparkan batu dan penyalahgunaan rasis karena Deputi Gubernur, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, seorang Cina etnis dan Kristen, dalam jam dengan asumsi governorship, pertama kalinya untuk Cina-Indonesia. Indonesia Presiden-Elect Joko Widodo, dikenal sebagai "Jokowi", dan istrinya Iriana. Mr Joko, 53, mungkin seorang Muslim dari heartland Jawa Tengah, tetapi pemilihannya sebagai Presiden Indonesia adalah tidak kurang revolusioner.Iklan Pria yang dikenal sebagai Jokowi dibesarkan di Sungai humpy dan membuat tanda sebagai produsen furnitur, kemudian sebagai walikota daerah di Solo. Dia dari diri sendiri untuk suatu kesalahan, meletakkan mengklaim tidak ada kemampuan khusus atau kualifikasi, tidak pernah seorang jenderal militer, mencintai musik heavy metal dan secara luas dianggap oleh masyarakat awam Indonesia sebagai orang kecil, benar-benar orang yang kecil-"salah satu dari kami". Itu telah membuatnya gila-gilaan populer, terutama di desa-desa mana mayoritas penduduk masih hidup. Presiden-Elect Indonesia mengatakan saat ia bertemu dengan rintangan sebagai Gubernur ia mengambil kasusnya langsung kepada orang-orang. Jakarta elit politik, namun – cliquey, kaya dan diikat bersama-sama dengan ikatan yang kuat dari patronase-benci. Dipimpin oleh calon Presiden gagal Prabowo Subianto dan Aburizal Bakrie, mereka yang melemparkan batu ke arahnya di jalan, tetapi di Parlemen, mana mereka kontrol mayoritas 63 persen dan telah melewati sebuah kebingungan undang-undang yang dirancang untuk menggagalkan kepadanya.Jokowi sendiri, berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris, menghentikan sebagai gentar dengan apa pakar memanggil serangan elit demokrasi seperti oleh teriakan jauh rakyat jelata di luar."Dalam pengalaman saya ketika bekerja di Solo, aku hanya 40 persen [Parlemen dukungan]. Di sini di Jakarta saya memiliki hanya 11 persen. Sampai sekarang aku tidak punya masalah dengan Dewan,"katanya dengan nya menyeringai merek dagang.Secara pribadi, Presiden berikutnya segera menyenangkan. Dia berbicara dalam bariton kasar dan senyum lebar dan menular tertawa. Sebuah editor koran Indonesia mengeluhkan selama kampanye pemilu bahwa wartawan nya, laki-laki dan perempuan, terus kembali ke kantor memiliki jatuh cinta dengan calon pertama mereka hadapi.Ketika dia bertemu rintangan sebagai Gubernur, Jokowi mengatakan, ia mengambil kasusnya langsung kepada orang-orang-dalam beberapa kasus yang posting video Youtube dirinya ganti turun pejabat. Dukungan kemudian memaksa Parlemen ke baris.Dalam percakapan dengan Joko Widodo, subjek "orang" datang terus-menerus. Demokrasi, dalam pikirannya, harus menjadi proses yang konstan masyarakat biasa di Indonesia menjaga wakil-wakil mereka jujur. Untuk memanfaatkan kekuatan rakyat secara lebih permanen, dia ingin menjadi Presiden pertama Indonesia media sosial."Sekarang adalah era horisontal [dari politik]," katanya. "Media sosial sangat penting sekarang ketika kita ingin mengirim pesan kita. Jadi kita mulai untuk mendapatkan bersama para sukarelawan kami."Gagasan tentang pemerintah oleh sukarelawan terinspirasi oleh pengalamannya memenangkan dukungan dan berikutnya aktivisme dari Indonesia terobsesi bersih muda. "Kami memiliki kelompok media sosial, kami memiliki kebijakan petani, kita memiliki kelompok nelayan, mereka pergi pintu ke pintu, dan mereka memberitahu [orang] tentang Jokowi," katanya.Dalam kampanye presiden, partainya sendiri, Partai Demokrat dari perjuangan Indonesia (PDI-P), dipimpin oleh Megawati Sukarnoputri, buruk menjatuhkan bola, menawarkan dukungan lemas dan kecil dana atau strategi nous. Ditambahkan ke disorganisation merajalela dan bersemangat pidato-nya sendiri, itu hampir kehilangan Jokowi pemilihan. Dia menderita 20-plus persen jajak pendapat menyebabkan kemiringan energik dan profesional mantan tentara cara Prabowo. Itu hanya dalam akhir minggu atau dua yang para relawan, dikenal sebagai relawan, datang untuk menyelamatkan, menyediakan dukungan massa dan beberapa gambar kenangan kampanye.Then, as the vote was being counted and Prabowo challenged the election's legitimacy with a series of bogus claims, Joko called on ordinary people to "guard" the vote. Volunteer netizens responded in droves, making it much more difficult to corrupt.Jokowi has kept tight links with the relawan since. He makes time for them regularly and after Monday's inauguration, hopes to escape the formalities for long enough to attend a heavy metal concert (guest stars Slank) that the volunteers are organising in his honour. Then he wants them to continue their work for him in government."I will ask them to control our program, to control our project after we start," he says.It's a typical ground-up approach from a man who is determined not to take on the trappings of office. President-elect Jokowi still eats in local street cafes, wears his signature white shirt (untucked), flies economy class and clearly relishes being buffetted by the masses at public appearances. He drives the presidential security detail crazy.Ground-up also describes his approach to policy."He's not a high-concept individual," warns one of his minders before our interview. "He's not an orator, he's a storyteller. That's why he likes blusukan", his patented political tactic of making surprise visits to the field.Ask high-concept questions about foreign policy or international relations: sovereignty, asylum boats and South China Sea diplomacy, and he consults his notes or looks to adviser Rizal Sukma, whose knowledge on these matters is widely respected.He admits freely that, on these matters he'll rely on the ministers he'll appoint, likely in the week or two after the inauguration. His job, as he sees it, is to "manage our ministers".But he is not unaware of the world, including Australia. He has visited as a tourist and is keen for tourism to expand. His son was a student at the University of Technology in Sydney and, as a businessman, he exported goods there."I sent a lot of my furniture to Australia for more than 15 years. Many of my Australian buyers came to my city and chose products … flooring and furniture and outdoor furniture … I sent many containers," he says.Mostly, in these very early days, he views international relations as a businessman might. Ask what might ease the bilateral business relationship, and he talks not about tackling "economic nationalism" (which he broadly favours) but about licensing, logistics, power supply and fuel subsidies.Jokowi's singular focus on the practical is the inverse of the world view of predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose grand gestures and international glad-handing left little room for actual management.And it's Indonesia's long neglect of the practical that makes life so tough for so many: the right to clean drinking water and to get goods to market; to have your child's teacher turn up to school and stay the day, or to have an interaction with a government official that does not involve a threat or a bribe.Government inadequacy at every level, particularly in health and education, blights a country that by now should be doing much better. Ask about what he sees as Indonesia's key challenges, and Joko Widodo has no need for notes."The gap between the haves and the have-nots is the one. Income inequality is my challenge," he replies."I will deliver by the end of this month our Indonesian smart card to the students from poor families, and this month also I will send Indonesian health cards to the people from poor families."The cards entitle poor people to free health treatment which, at the moment, they cannot afford. In Jokowi's world view, the demands of the people will drive change through the system. Raise their expectations and they will force government to rise to the challenge. It's difficult to know if Jokowi thinks of it in this way, but if his bottom-up program succeeds, the flow-through of an Indonesia that works better are clear internationally. Richer, healthier, better educated Indonesians mean a bigger market for Australian goods and services (including tertiary education), more places outside Bali for Australians to easily visit, and more ballast in business-to-business and people-to-people links. It would improve bilateral relations more surely than a generation of summit-hopping politicians could hope for.Both countries need this. Fourteen years into the Asian Century, two-way trade with our enormous neighbour is a measly $15 billion. It would also create a more stable and self-confident Indonesia and a more united regional voice against common threats such as terrorism, dangerous asylum seeker voyagers, or territorial provocations from China. If it fails, of course, the sky-high expectations Joko has raised could come crashing down on his head. One thing that might stop him is the inability to get legislation through parliament, something that so far, his enemies appear to be highly motivated to do. The Prabowo team is now promising to be a "constructive" opposition, but while Prabowo on Friday congratulated his erstwhile rival for the first time and called him "a patriot", their track record of bloodyminded obstructionism and the recent promise of Prabowo's brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo to "control the legislative agenda" confer little confidence.Prabowo is backed by a majority coalition of six parties, a billion dollar fortune, the electoral support of the vast majority of military families (soldiers themselves are prohibited from voting), and the unswerving belief of some parts of the elite that this impostor from the village must be stopped.Until he has the full machinery o