D

emocracy is culturally bounded and it is true that the system of democracy includes universal principles and procedures, but to understand how power and politics operate within the system, we should include rites, gestures and styles for instance, as part of customs in a particular society.

Cultural rites form part of the gestures of the most-liked contemporary politician, Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

Many who observed Jokowi kissing the hand of former president and party chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri in the recent 41st anniversary of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) speculated on its political significance ahead of the 2014 general election.

Jokowi emphasized his gesture was merely part of the customary expression of deep respect for elders, and, therefore, should not be politically interpreted. The gesture should not be hastily associated with his probable presidential bid. However, I find that such a cultural gesture is inherent in Jokowi'€™s rites to acquire and maintain power and legitimacy.

Jokowi has only been able to generate his political career on the national stage due to his previous achievements as Surakarta mayor. Surakarta, or Solo, is known as the Javanese heartland, the home of the Mataram dynasty, but more importantly as a major representation of the way of life of the common Javanese.

For the Javanese, showing respect is a key element in maintaining social harmony. Within the tradition of the priayi, those considered the cultured elite, such gestures of respect are part of commoners'€™ obligations to the power holders and elite class in general. But since his political career in Solo, Jokowi has managed to exploit the cultural approach, demonstrating that the leader should also bestow respect on commoners.

His much-cited source of popularity in Solo was when as mayor he managed to peacefully relocate die-hard vendors around the Banjarsari monument. There were hidden negotiations with informal actors. Residents cited his commitment to hold an unprecedented series of dialogs with the street vendors and even invited them for dinners to engage them in the process.

He maintained such a deliberative style during the mayoralty, as he conducted mider projo, routine visits and talking to residents and many more rites to express his respect for the commoners. Jokowi is applying a similar approach in his impromptu visits known as blusukan, to break the ice in relations with city officials and residents.

In Javanese norms, those rites are dubbed nguwongke uwong, treating a person as a person, an idiom of respect to the other. This is a cultural element of respect that Jokowi inserts in the practice of democracy in Solo and Jakarta. And by inserting the cultural element, he undoubtedly wins the hearts of large segments of Indonesians.

Jokowi applies the above attitude in the entire political relations he develops. Politics is a power game and Jokowi knows well that Indonesian politics is dominated by the culture of hierarchy, where paying respect to the elders and principals at the top of the pyramid of power, including potential rivals, is an effective strategy for winning the game.

Those who observe democracy and power from liberal values would be cynical about the gesture of Jokowi kissing his chairperson'€™s hand, which goes against egalitarianism and reflects the oligarchic structure of power. But those seeing politics through rational choices would say that Jokowi is basically applying a pragmatic approach for the sake of his ambitions for the PDI-P presidential nomination.

Regardless of such debates, for Jokowi, politics is cultural. Here, Jokowi adopted a culture of respect that he learned mainly as a Javanese commoner. His cultural awareness of nguwongke uwong is somewhat natural rather than constructed for his political career, though it can also be seen as part of his strategy to win the PDI-P presidential nomination.  

Though such cultural awareness may not fit well with the universal principles of egalitarianism required for an ideal democracy, his personality has nevertheless fascinated the hearts of the people.

And for his party boss Megawati, it seems only a matter of time before she announces publicly that Jokowi'€™s attitude has stolen her political heart.

The writer is a lecturer in politics at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and is researching Jokowi'€™s politics in Surakarta for his PhD thesis in political science at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.