ISTANBUL President Joko Widodo is touring Indonesia during the final days of his second term. Popular as Jokowi, the 63-year-old president will be succeeded by Prabowo Subianto, 72, on Oct. 20.
In recent days, Jokowi has toured several regions of the archipelago of 17,000 islands, including Surabaya, Semarang and Medan where he reviewed progress reports about developmental projects as well as the availability of essentials, including food. His latest trip was to Alor Regency in East Nusa Tenggara province where he interacted with students. “My children, study diligently and always instill a sense of love for the land to build a progressive and peaceful Indonesia in the future,” he told students.
The successive tenure of Jokowi has seen stability in Indonesian politics and an infrastructure boom in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Jokowi, who was first elected in 2014 and reelected in 2019, has served two consecutive terms, the maximum by the Constitution. The businessman-turned-politician, who was born in Surakarta in the Central Java region, first served as governor of Jakarta between 2012 and 14.
Stability and legacy With the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, he became the first president with no military background nor did he belong to one of the country’s prominent political families. "At the start of his administration, there was overwhelming support for Jokowi, with many backing him no matter what he did," Franka Soeria, an Indonesian fash.