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Jokowi enters seventh year on stronger political footing
Beginning his career as a political outsider, the President has demonstrated his ability to navigate the nation's elitist politics and score policy points time and again, proving his detractors wrong while disappointing some supporters that expected more.
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo, wearing a protective mask, reacts during an interview in Bebatu, a remote area near Tarakan, North Kalimantan, October 19, 2021. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
W
hen President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took office on Oct. 20, 2014, doubts lingered over whether an upstart like him could secure the support of the political elite. Seven years in, the former Jakarta governor continues to prove his doubters wrong as he tightens his grip on power.
As the clock ticks down to the end of his presidency in 2024, and even after the first year of his second term was hit by the world’s worst health crisis in more than a century, Jokowi still maintains strong political capital. This will allow him to secure his legacy, even as it sparks calls and concerns for a possible third term.
Jokowi may have dashed the hopes of progressives and reformists who thought he would challenge long-established oligarchic interests, but he has still found a way to navigate the country's elitist politics to ensure his survival and to execute his policies.
Still going strong
Jokowi's approval rating fell from 71.4 percent in April 2019 to 68.8 percent in October 2020, a period that included the first eight months since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. His rating remains stable this year at 68.5 percent in Sept 2021, with the public largely approving his handling of the pandemic, according to the latest polls released on Tuesday from Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC).
“The leader of any country would envy such high numbers,” said Philip J. Vermonte, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta. “Despite the critical public, [his] approval rating remains high. This is strong social capital for Jokowi to [build] a legacy in his second term.”
