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any viewed the popular Javanese wayang (puppet show) fairytale Petruk dadi Ratu (Petruk becomes a king) as a self-fulfilled prophecy with the assumption by Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo of the presidency. Like Petruk, one of the four eternal servants of the Pandawa in the Javanese adaptation of the Mahabharata epic, Jokowi is deemed as a representative of the ordinary people who climbs to the throne at the expense of the elite.

No one had any doubt about Jokowi'€™s commitment to the people, as his performance as the mayor of Surakarta in 2005-2012 and governor of Jakarta in 2012-2014 demonstrated. It was the proven track record that lured the majority of voters to choose him in last year'€™s election over his rival Prabowo Subianto, the antithesis of Jokowi in almost all aspects.

But now, less than four months into his term, many, particularly his detractors, have started to sneer at Jokowi as the personification of Petruk. As the story goes, Petruk is unqualified for the throne and therefore his rise to power generates instability, if not a mess. Fortunately his reign is short-lived.

So soon? Yes, according to the Javanese folklore, Petruk is catapulted to the throne by accident after the amulet belonging to his ailing master Abimanyu passes to him. Due to the amulet, Abimanyu, son of Arjuna from Subadra, is destined to beget the future king of Hastinapura, Parikesit. As soon as Abimanyu recovers, Petruk surrenders the amulet to the deserving owner voluntarily.

In many ways Petruk'€™s perceived ineligibility to govern is biased in favor of the elite to justify a long-held belief that ordinary men are never born to rule but rather to serve. In fact, in many parts of the world, Indonesia included, rulers mostly come from the elite. Regime change cannot happen without the elite'€™s say so.

In the Indonesian context, the founding fathers belonged to the educated elite and the national leadership circulated within the elite group. Succession strictly involved the political blue blood, by birth or marriage, until a lesser known furniture businessman, Jokowi, emerged.

Less than four months since his euphoric inauguration on Oct. 20, 2014, however, Jokowi is facing an uphill, complicated struggle that will prove whether he merits the top executive post. Instead of fighting his opposition, Jokowi is, ironically, pitted against his own allies, who helped him win the presidential race, in particular the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and its paramount leader Megawati Soekarnoputri. What a similarity with Petruk fighting his own Pandawa masters.

The rift centers on the nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, formerly an adjutant to Megawati when she was president, as the National Police chief, despite his implication in past corruption cases.

Jokowi is torn between his commitment to anticorruption, which earned him popular support and loyalty to his party. Installing Budi, whom the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named a suspect, will cost Jokowi his credibility, not to mention his attempts to refute the allegations that he is no more than a puppet president.

On the other hand, withdrawing Budi'€™s nomination will spark a new political brouhaha given his endorsement by the House of Representatives. The worst-case scenario will see the PDI-P withdraw its political support from Jokowi, or if necessary lead a move to impeach him.

In fact some in the PDI-P inner circle have expressed disappointment in Jokowi for not paying back enough to the party. Jokowi only awarded three ministerial seats to the PDI-P despite its billing as the election winner, compared with its middle-level coalition partner the NasDem Party, which earned four Cabinet portfolios. Jokowi has reportedly also angered Megawati by appointing Luhut Binsar Panjaitan the Presidential Delivery Unit chief.

PDI-P deputy chairman Pramono Anung has dismissed claims of a feud between Jokowi and PDI-P, saying Megawati had three times let Jokowi take decisions that went against her wishes without hard feelings. The first was the formation of the Transition Team prior to Jokowi'€™s inauguration, the second was the appointment of Cabinet ministers whom Megawati did not endorse and the third was a variety of bills proposed by the government for the national legislative program that ran counter to the PDI-P line, such as the national security bill.

One month has passed since the controversy surrounding Budi'€™s nomination began. Not only have Jokowi'€™s critics and enemies piled on the pressure for him to act quickly to resolve the matter beyond further doubt, so too have his admirers. The crisis, which has been protracted and has been seen to spiral out of his control, as evinced in the fierce collision between the police and the KPK, has cast Jokowi in a very poor light. Many more now believe the man who they once dubbed Satrio Piningit (the knight in waiting) is no better than Petruk, who became a king by chance.

Jokowi has listened to many voices and taken necessary action to anticipate the repercussions of whatever decision he will make on Budi. His surprise approach to his former rival Prabowo and communication with the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, his meetings with leaders of legislative and judicial powers as well as his gathering of Army generals before finally holding a discussion with Megawati and the leaders of the Great Indonesia Coalition indicate that Jokowi is calculating well his moves to ensure he remains in command of the game.

That Jokowi went ahead with his tour of three ASEAN neighbors despite the crisis at home signals his confidence that everything is under control and will remain so when he returns home to announce his decision. He would not go overseas had the stalemate got worse.

When Jokowi finally withdraws Budi'€™s candidacy, names a replacement and wins the battle, his resemblance to Petruk will continue. The reason is that behind his modest, down-to-earth appearance, Petruk hides his invincible powers that even gods cannot match.

People however do not expect him to show off. They only want him to exercise his power to lead them to prosperity as promised.

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The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post