JOKO WIDODO
Let's win first, then talk about a cabinet
THE presidential election will be Joko Widodo's biggest test ever. His critics regard him as inexperienced as a national leader. Fifty-three-year-old Jokowi-as he is familiarly known-who hails from Solo, Central Java, has been the presidential candidate who has been hit most by smear or black campaigning in the past three weeks. The issues with which he is attacked are sensitive ones-particularly among traditional voters in Indonesia-and that is about ethnicity, religion and race.
He has been attacked as a non-Muslim and being an ethnic Chinese, prompting to him respond openly, "I am staying quiet because I would like to tawadu (being modest and humble-Ed.)," Jokowi told Tempo. But patience has its limits. "I can also get angry because no one likes to be defamed," he added. Such slurs are nothing new to Jokowi. In 2012, when he ran for Jakarta governor, he was similarly attacked.
July 1, 2014
THE presidential election will be Joko Widodo's biggest test ever. His critics regard him as inexperienced as a national leader. Fifty-three-year-old Jokowi-as he is familiarly known-who hails from Solo, Central Java, has been the presidential candidate who has been hit most by smear or black campaigning in the past three weeks. The issues with which he is attacked are sensitive ones-particularly among traditional voters in Indonesia-and that is a
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