It was only 10am, but the weather was already scorching in Jakarta on Friday last week. Dozens of people sought shelter beneath the leafy shade of the banyan tree in the grounds of the house on Jl. Teuku Umar 24, in the Menteng area of Central Jakarta. Fauzi Bowo, the master of the house and Jakarta gubernatorial candidate, had only just arrived from a meeting, carrying a bundle of newspaper clippings.

Over a three-week period, Fauzi Bowo and ru