Commentary: Politics is a family business in Indonesia

  • 📰 ChannelNewsAsia
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 66 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 30%
  • Publisher: 66%

Canada News News

Canada Canada Latest News,Canada Canada Headlines

Indonesian President Joko Widodo's son has been nominated as a vice-presidential candidate for next year's election. It's a worrying sign for the country's democratic transition, says Karishma Vaswani for Bloomberg Opinion.

File photo of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, at a public hearing with members of the regional House of Representatives in Solo, central Java, on Oct 19, 2023. SINGAPORE: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is expanding his family dynasty, son by son. The announcement that his eldest child Gibran Rakabuming Raka has been picked as Defence Ministeris just the latest in a series of political manoeuvres that have cemented his image as a Javanese kingmaker.

I first met him more than a decade ago, when he was governor of Jakarta. At the time, chatting to him in a leafy green park in his white crisp linen shirt and sandals, I was struck by his sincerity and disruptor mentality. As an outsider, he could see the obvious issues that needed to be fixed within the political establishment and there appeared to be a genuine desire on his part to change things.

How things have changed. If you want to do well in politics in Indonesia, it certainly helps to be related to Jokowi., in 2020 he was elected mayor of his home city of Solo. The young politician won by a landslide in large part thanks to Jokowi’s popularity and social capital. Jokowi has batted away any suggestion that his family benefits because he is the head of state. If Indonesians want to vote them in, he told me in an interview in 2020, I can’t stop them. It is the public’s decision.

Indonesia's Defence Minister and presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, along with his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Surakarta's Mayor, speak to journalists before registering themselves for next year's presidential election, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct 25, 2023. That backlash is already beginning.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 6. in CA

Canada Canada Latest News, Canada Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Commentary: Companies, show us the carbon footprint of your foodOat milk brand Oatly has been printing the carbon impact of its products on packaging. It’s a good start, but it probably won’t be enough to change behaviour, says Lara Williams for Bloomberg Opinion.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Commentary: Could Trans-cab merger and rumoured foodpanda buyout spell trouble for Grab customers?Grab could potentially acquire taxi company Trans-cab and food delivery competitor foodpanda in Singapore. But it has every incentive to keep the ecosystem competitive, says Momentum Works’ Jianggan Li.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »