Joko Widodo

Joko Widodo (2014)

Joko Widodo (born June 21, 1961 in Surakarta , Jawa Tengah Province ), known as Jokowi , is an Indonesian businessman and politician ( PDI-P ). He has been President of Indonesia since October 20, 2014 .

Life

Joko Widodo is a trained forester and founder of a furniture company, he was mayor of his hometown Surakarta from 2005 to 2012 . In this position he was known for a dialogue-oriented political style, anti- corruption programs , urban planning and environmental protection. Then he was elected Governor of the Capital District (Daerah Khusus Ibukota) Jakarta . He quickly gained national recognition. Because of his almost identical age and a certain external similarity, he has been compared by many media outlets to the former US President Barack Obama .

In March 2014, he was nominated by his party, the Democratic Party of the Struggle of Indonesia (PDI-P), as a candidate for the presidential election on July 9, 2014 , the third direct presidential election in Indonesia. His vice-presidential candidate was Muhammad Jusuf Kalla ( Golkar ), who was vice-president under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2004 to 2009 . According to the official result of the election committee on July 22, 2014, Jokowi prevailed against his competitor Prabowo Subianto ( Gerindra ) with 53.15% of the vote . Prabowo initially did not recognize the result. After the judgment of the Constitutional Court, the results were declared valid, whereupon Prabowo admitted his defeat.

On October 20, 2014, Jokowi was sworn in as the seventh President of Indonesia.

During his tenure until April 2015, despite massive protests by various governments, 14 death sentences were carried out , mostly for drug smuggling , etc. a. against Australians , Brazilians and Nigerians .

In April 2019, he ran again in the presidential elections, again against Prabowo Subianto. Post-election surveys indicated an election victory for incumbent Jokowi, opinion research institutes saw him with around 55 percent of the vote. Jokowi declared himself the winner the day after the election, but this has not yet been recognized by the rival candidate Prabowo, just like in the previous election. Five weeks after the presidential election, Jokowi was officially announced as the winner by the electoral commission. Accordingly, he received 55.5 percent of the vote and can continue to govern until 2024. Opposing candidate Prabowo Subianto , who also did not recognize the official final result, came to about 44.5 percent. After the election, he formed the Indonesian Advanced Cabinet .

Joko Widodo is married and has three children. He is an amateur radio operator and his callsign is YD2JKW. He has been described as Muslim but generally secular in his view.