The world’s third largest democracy is now run by a populist neophyte

JAKARTA, Indonesia — It was an extraordinary public party, and a first in Indonesia’s history of presidential inaugurations. Tens of thousands of Indonesians hit the streets of the capital on Monday to celebrate their new president, who this day more than ever deserved his man-of-the-people reputation.

From the horse-drawn cart that took him to the presidential palace, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo waved to the crowd. He shook many hands. On stage at an evening celebration concert, in front of his euphoric supporters, the heavy-metal fan looked like a true rock star.

A former furniture seller, Jokowi has often been described as a breath of fresh air on Indonesia’s political scene. That’s hard to dispute. With his simple looks and manners, he’s not your typical leader, and he’s quite proud of that.

Jokowi enjoys telling how public servants often confused him for an aide when he started gaining power, first as a mayor then as governor of Jakarta. Indonesian politician Sarwono Kusumaatmadja put it more crudely. The old traditional political elite, he said, hates having for a leader someone “looking like a waiter and speaking in a lower-class Javanese accent.”

The “ordinary people” love it. They brought him to power. But at his inauguration speech, Jokowi addressed all Indonesians alike.

“To the fishermen, laborers, farmers, meatball sellers, hawkers, drivers, academics, teachers, the Indonesian Military, the National Police, business people and professionals, I’m calling on [all of us] to work hard, hand in hand, in partnership. This is a historic moment for all of us, to move together to work … work … and work,” he said.

Now the party is over. Jakarta’s roads are packed with cars again. It’s indeed time for Jokowi to get to work.

And that’s where things might get a bit complicated.

With no national experience, the 53-year-old Jokowi is now in charge of the world’s third largest democracy: 250 million people, 17,000 islands (at low tide), a slowing economy, and rampant corruption. Almost half of his compatriots live on less than two dollars a day.

He also has no majority in parliament, and faces a powerful opposition that doesn’t seem too keen on helping the outsider implement an ambitious reform agenda.

When the constitutional court confirmed Jokowi’s electoral victory against his rival, former General Prabowo Subianto, the Jakarta Post proclaimed “Game over, Prabowo!" This might have been too optimistic. Prabowo and his backing coalition have actually been well in the game in the past few weeks.

Last month the parliament voted to scrap direct elections for local leaders. These polls had been a key step in the country’s democratic transition. Prabowo and his supporters deemed them “un-Indonesian." The vote was perceived as a political move, and a direct attack on Jokowi, who couldn’t have risen to power without direct elections.

Then, Prabowo’s Red-White coalition, which controls almost two-thirds of the parliament, won all the key seats in the two chambers, making many fear Jokowi’s reform agenda might face legislative gridlock.

Jokowi says he’s not worried. “I’m not scared of parliament,” he told reporters in early October. “That’s politics. It can change every second, minute and hour.”

There were rumors the hostile parliament would try to disrupt his inauguration, but tensions eased just a few days before Jokowi’s big day. Quite unexpectedly, Prabowo and Jokowi met, for the first time in months, and Prabowo finally congratulated Jokowi on his victory.

Prabowo then attended Jokowi’s inauguration, during which Jokowi referred to him as his “best friend.” Prabowo has now promised not to sabotage the new administration.

“Competition in politics is natural,” said Prabowo after his meeting with Jokowi, but “all actions must be conducted based on the people’s interests.”

Political analyst Maswadi Rauf has no doubt Prabowo and his supporters will try to “block Jokowi” in parliament but says Prabowo will indeed have to “remember the people are the real judges.”

“It would be very dangerous for [Prabowo’s party] to oppose good policies,” he says.

According to political analyst Djayadi Hanan, “the people” might actually be Jokowi’s biggest challenge.

“Jokowi relies on his image of man-of-the-people. If the people are disappointed, he’s going to have a problem,”  he says.

Jokowi’s first real test could come soon enough. His agenda includes plans to improve access to health and education, launch badly-needed infrastructure projects, and tackle poverty, red tape and corruption. That’s quite a program, and for this, he needs money.

One of the first measures he’s set to put in place is to cut fuel subsidies — increasing gas prices at the pump. Previous cuts have led to street riots, and actually contributed to the fall of former dictator Suharto’s regime in 1998.

“Many will oppose this,” especially among the less fortunate, says Hanan. “Let’s see if he can convince the people.”