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Jokowi has left the stage, his ‘theater state’ lingers on
For a politician who came from such humble beginnings, Jokowi managed to carve out an extraordinary career in politics by elbowing his way to the top, subjugating even the most powerful vested interests in Jakarta and rising above the rest to become a towering figure in national politics.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (left) bows to House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani (second right), People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo (third right) and Regional Representative Council (DPD) Speaker La Nyalla Mattalitti (right) during the annual MPR plenary session at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Aug. 16, 2024. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra )
F
ormer president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stepped down on Sunday and without doubt he left an indelible mark on Indonesian politics.
For a politician who came from such humble beginnings, Jokowi managed to carve out an extraordinary career in politics by elbowing his way to the top, subjugating even the most powerful vested interests in Jakarta and rising above the rest to become a towering figure in national politics.
Despite serving only two terms in office, Jokowi pulled off a feat that allowed him to become less of a primus inter pares leader and more of a puppet master.
The fact that 16 of his ministers will stay in the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and that the new president will continue some of his signature projects like nickel downstreaming and the construction of a new capital, is testament to Jokowi’s outsized influence on national politics.
Also consider the reality that his son is now the vice president to President Prabowo and that his son-in-law could soon be the governor of the most populous province in Sumatra.
It is certainly rare that a second-term president anywhere in the world could secure an approval rating of 75 percent on the day they leave office.
Thus it is not an overstatement to say that after only two terms in office, former president Jokowi has remade the country’s politics in his image.
