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Power transition poses impromptu challenge to ‘blusukan’
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo visits a drugstore on July 23, 2021, in Bogor, West Java, during one of his "blusukan" impromptu visits, to check the availability of some drugs used to treat COVID-19. (Courtesy of Presidential Press Bureau/-)
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ince he was mayor of Surakarta and governor of Jakarta, President Joko “Jokowi” Widowo has been known for his signature blusukan (impromptu visits) to connect with the people, listen to their needs and inspect firsthand how his policies are implemented.
Nurturing his image as an ordinary person, the President has often mingled with working-class crowds in cheap sneakers, enjoyed meals with people at street food stalls, cycled during bustling car-free days on Sunday mornings and taken selfies with people and journalists.
Perhaps one of Jokowi’s most famous blusukan occurred during the early days of his tenure as the governor of Jakarta in 2012, when he dressed in his office batik shirt and descended into sewage drains to inspect the drainage system as the city faced frequent flooding.
Now, even as he is about to step down at the end of his second and final presidential term, Jokowi went to Lampung to inspect a hospital and irrigation system before strolling around a traditional market to ask stallholders whether they were happy with the commodity prices.
His random blusukan is one of the reasons that Jokowi remains popular, with consistently high approval ratings of more than 70 percent nearing the end of his presidency.
Blusukan has even become a new trend among politicians seeking to boost their popularity, such as National Mandate Party (PAN) chair Zulkifli Hasan and Democratic Party chair Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Now with Prabowo Subianto preparing to take the reins from Jokowi, questions arise about whether the president-elect, who has pledged to continue Jokowi’s policy programs, will also continue his blusukan style.
