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‘Good days’ find outsize role in Jokowi’s Javanese leadership style
The President has not hidden the fact that he has been inspired by ancient Javanese teachings, as is the case in his use of auspicious days for policy making.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center) receives the country's first COVID-19 vaccination at the Presidential Palace on Jan. 13. Jokowi has tended to use Wednesdays to announce or enact important policies, such as the nationwide vaccination drive, based on Javanese teachings. (The Jakarta Post/Presidential Palace)
Lately, Wednesdays seem to have taken on more meaning than the simple mid-week hump.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has had a tendency to announce and enact important government policies on that day of the week, and some say it’s not a coincidence.
Most recently, the Javanese leader chose last Wednesday to become the first person in the country to receive a COVID-19 vaccination during the launch a mass campaign seeking to inoculate 181.5 million Indonesians, some 70 percent of the population, against the disease within 18 months (but ideally in under a year).
The event was heavily orchestrated and broadcast live from the Presidential Palace for all to see.
On the same day, Jokowi sent State Secretary Pratikno to the House of Representatives to deliver a letter officially nominating the head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, as the sole candidate for the next chief of police.
Listyo has been a close acquaintance of the President since his days as chief of the Surakarta Police in Central Java, where Jokowi’s political career flourished.
Read also: 'Lamun sira sekti, aja mateni': Jokowi infuses Javanese philosophy into politics
