Jokowi was born and raised in Surakarta, a city in the centre of Java northeast of Yogyakarta. His father was a wood seller who plied his trade in the city’s streets, and throughout much of Jokowi’s childhood he and his family lived in illegally built shacks near the city’s flood-prone Solo River. Later, when he entered politics, his populist appeal was rooted in part to those humble beginnings.
Jokowi applied himself at school and won admittance to Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, from which he graduated (1985) with a degree in forestry engineering. For several years he worked for a state-owned pulp mill in the Aceh region of northern Sumatra, and he later established his own furniture factory in Surakarta. By 2002 he had become a highly successful furniture exporter, with showrooms on several continents, as well as chairman of a local branch of the country’s influential furniture manufacturers’ association.
In 2005 Jokowi, as a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan; PDI-P), won election as mayor of Surakarta—the first person to be directly elected to that post. He was extraordinarily effective in reducing crime and attracting foreign tourists to the city. His habit of making spontaneous visits to poor neighbourhoods and his refusal to accept a salary for his public service contributed to his reputation for humility and honesty. In 2010 Jokowi was reelected mayor with more than 90 percent of the vote. He was later ranked as the third best mayor in the world by the international City Mayors Foundation. During his gubernatorial run in Jakarta in 2012, Jokowi began to be widely compared in the media to U.S. President Barack Obama, in part because there was a physical resemblance but also because Jokowi largely fit the Obama mold as a charismatic nontraditional politician. Jokowi ousted the incumbent, Fauzi Bowo, in the second round of that election, and, as governor of Jakarta, he launched programs aimed at improving Jakartans’ access to health care and education.
In 2014 the PDI-P selected Jokowi to be its candidate for the Indonesian presidential election, which was held on July 9. He was swept to victory with more than 53 percent of the popular vote, defeating former general Prabowo Subianto. Though Subianto alleged that there had been widespread vote rigging and formally challenged the election result, the country’s Constitutional Court unanimously rejected his claim in August, clearing the way for Jokowi to take office on October 20. As Jokowi entered the presidency, he identified clamping-down on corruption as among his top priorities and as a necessary step to attract more foreign direct investment to the country. He also pushed a nine-point plan for Indonesia that emphasized helping the poor by improving public services, implementing land reforms, and developing more-affordable housing, among other measures.
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