jokowi

Joko Widodo (born June 21, 1961) is an Indonesian politician and the current governor of Jakarta. He is often better known by his nickname Jokowi. He was previously the mayor of Surakarta (often also known as Solo in Indonesia). He was nominated by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), to run in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as Ahok) as his running mate.^[1] He was elected governor of Jakarta on 20 September 2012 after a second round runoff election in which he defeated the incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo.^[2] Jokowi's win was widely seen as reflecting popular voter support for "new" or "clean" leaders rather than the "old" style of politics in Indonesia, although he is over 50 years old.^[3] His governorship lasts for five years and will end in 2017.
Jokowi's popularity has risen sharply since his election to the high-profile position of governor of Jakarta in 2012. During 2013 and early 2014, he was seen as a potential PDI-P candidate for the Indonesian presidential election in 2014. Originally, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri stated that she would not announce the PDI-P presidential candidate until after the 9 April legislative elections in accordance with Law No 42 of 2008 (Clause 9) which states that nominations of candidates for the presidential election may only be made by a party (or a coalition of parties) that receive at least 20% of the seats in Indonesia’s House of Representatives (112 out of 560) or win 25% of the popular votes. However, due to the potential vote gains that announcing Jokowi's presidential nomination will bring to the PDI-P legislative candidates, some speculate she took advantage of his popularity to announce his nomination on March 14, 2014, three weeks before the elections and two days prior (March 16, 2014) to the start of the official legislative campaigning period including rallies and mass media advertising.^[4] Regardless, Megawati’s nomination is not formal until one of the following occurs after the Indonesian legislative election on 9 April 2014: PDI-P wins 20 percent of the legislative seats, PDI-P wins 25% of the popular votes, or forms a coalition with other parties to reach the 20% threshold. If Jokowi runs successfully for President, the Deputy Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) will succeed him as the new Governor of Jakarta.