Indonesia’s Jokowi exits as time runs out on his presidency

The popular Joko Widodo, who kept a flock of pet goats, leaves office amid questions about whether democracy slid backward under his watch.
BenarNews staff
2024.10.20
Jakarta and Washington
Indonesia’s Jokowi exits as time runs out on his presidency Prabowo Subianto is sworn in as Indonesia’s new president during an inauguration ceremony at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024.
Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters

Many Indonesians might consider Joko “Jokowi” Widodo the greatest of all time (G.O.A.T) among the five presidents who, until Sunday, had led Indonesia in the post-Suharto era.  

The day marked the end of a decade in power for Jokowi, Indonesia’s popular ex-president who cultivated an image as a man of the people. He handed the reins of government to Prabowo Subianto before returning to his hometown of Solo (Surakarta).

After he took office in 2014, Jokowi brought with him a personal flock of prized pet goats, which he kept on the grounds of one of the presidential palaces. The flock, which proliferated during his decade in power, was expected to follow the former president home. 

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Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (right) feeds his pet goats as Airlangga Hartarto, a then-minister in his government, watches during a pause in a morning jog on the grounds of the presidential palace in Bogor, March 24, 2018. [Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau]

Jokowi, 63, who previously had served as mayor of Solo and Jakarta after a successful career as a furniture businessman, was in the early years of his presidency compared with then-U.S. President Barack Obama.

But lately, Jokowi was criticized for taking measures seen as eroding Indonesia’s hard-fought democratic gains that followed the 1998 downfall of President Suharto, the longtime dictator.

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Former Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his wife Iriana (center) are welcomed by thousands of people in his hometown of Solo, Central Java, upon their return from Jakarta after his presidency ended, Oct. 20, 2024. [Devi Rahman/AFP]

 

Jokowi struck an alliance with his former presidential rival, Prabowo, Suharto’s former son-in-law. In 2023, Jokowi was criticized for allegedly tampering with the courts and engineering a change in electoral law that allowed one of his sons to contest the February 2024 general election as Prabowo’s running mate.

The former president is expected to keep another toehold in politics if Prabowo appoints him to a prominent role on a newly expanded body, the Presidential Advisory Council.  

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President Joko Widodo (center) talks to reporters in Nusantara, the new Indonesian capital under construction in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan province, July 29, 2024. [Fadlan Syam/AP]

In the final weeks before he exited office, Jokowi worked from Nusantara, the name of the future Indonesian capital centered in Borneo – a multi-billion-dollar endeavor seen as his legacy project. 

He also toured different regions of the sprawling archipelago-nation to bid the Indonesian people goodbye while visiting other infrastructure projects, which were also a signature of his leadership. 

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo speaks while inaugurating a section of a toll road during a visit to North Sumatra province, Oct. 16, 2024. [Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau]

Days before Jokowi and his wife returned to Solo on Sunday, news reports noted that his flock of goats had grown from five to 43 during his time in office. The animals would be shipped home to Solo along with most of the family’s furniture and other possessions.

After Prabowo took the oath of office as Indonesia’s eighth president, he accompanied Jokowi and his wife Iriana to an air base near Jakarta where the former first couple boarded a government flight home. 

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Newly inaugurated Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto takes the oath of office as former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo looks on during an inauguration ceremony at the parliament building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. [Tatan Syuflana/AP]
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