Jokowi is nominated, Indonesia responds
Yesterday afternoon, PDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri finally put an end to months of speculation: Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo — better known as Jokowi — will be nominated as the party’s official candidate for President.
In this article, we’re collecting some of the more interesting tidbits from the last day’s reporting, tweets and trends. Seen something interesting? Let us know in the comments!
PDI-P announces the nomination
The official twitter account of Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan announces that its chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri has given Jokowi a mandate to stand as the party’s candidate for president:
BREAKING NEWS : Megawati Soekarnoputri telah resmi memberi mandat Jokowi sbg Capres 2014 #JKW4P cc: @pranandaprabowo @budimandjatmiko
— PDI Perjuangan (@PDI_Perjuangan) March 14, 2014
Shortly afterwards, Megawati’s hand-written letter announcing her decision is released.
Surat pemberian mandat kpd Jokowi sbg capres 2014, yg ditulis secara langsung oleh Ibu Megawati Soekarnoputri. #JKW4P pic.twitter.com/1ztHOH68wc — PDI Perjuangan (@PDI_Perjuangan) March 14, 2014
As Dave McRae notes, the party’s announcement on Twitter actually came before the party’s official announcement to the media.
So PDI-P’s tweets announcing Jokowi as presidential candidate preceded the press conference here at PDI-P headquarters — Dave McRae (@_DaveMcRae_) March 14, 2014
Jokowi accepts the nomination
In a short but sweet declaration, Jokowi announces he is accepting the PDI-P’s nomination: “I have been given a mandate from Chairwoman Ms. Megawati Soekarnoputri to be the party’s candidate for President of the Republic of Indonesia. In the name of God, I am ready.” (h/t Liam Gammon) Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen caught up with Jokowi minutes before the announcement was made:
just minutes before he accepted his nomination as presidential candidate. An emotional scene in North Jakarta pic.twitter.com/F7t2FUUgei — step vaessen (@stepvaessen) March 14, 2014
First reactions
Many observers were just as excited about the likely rise of Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta’s Deputy Governor to the Governor’s office.
JKW4P. AHK4G. — Daniel Giovanni (@qronoz) March 14, 2014
Another suggested that with Jokowi as a candidate, this year’s presidential election result could be “one of the most decisive victories” in the reformasi era.
Jokowi resmi jadi capres PDIP. Bersiaplah menyambut pilpres dgn kemenangan paling telak pasca reformasi. — Ernest Prakasa (@ernestprakasa) March 14, 2014
Not everyone was completely effusive: “Ideally Jokowi wouldn’t become President [right away]. His work is not yet done. But [if you] look at the other Presidential candidates – we are lucky to have him.”
Idealnya,Jokowi emang gak nyapres. krn kerjaannya belom rampung.Belum (cukup) teruji juga. Tp liat kandidat capres lain? Untung ada Jokowi. — Lucy Wiryono (@lucywiryono) March 14, 2014
But it wasn’t just Twitter where the new was positively received:
Jakarta enters bull market with Jokowi’s announcement pic.twitter.com/Lw5ZqV0wOl — Tim Cooke (@tim_cooke) March 14, 2014
“Indonesian Stocks Enter Bull Market on Jokowi Presidential Bid” says Bloomberg. Very appropriate given PDI-P symbol pic.twitter.com/q00idn2D4V — Ben Bland (@benjaminbland) March 14, 2014
Data from Google Trends suggests that Joko Widodo has been a hot topic since his nomination — and subsequent election — as Governor of Jakarta in 2012:
The papers
Most news outlets led with the news of the nomination, with Kompas highlighting the boost to the economy and the Jakarta Post highlighting the search for a vice-presidential candidate.
Further reading
- The Sydney Morning Herald was one of the first Australian outlets with coverage of the nomination by Jakarta correspondent @mbachelard.
- ‘The Jokowi phenomenon‘: a comprehensive profile by the ANU’s Ross Tapsell.
- On this blog last week, a look at the youth vote in Indonesia.
- Indonesian coverage from Kompas.com, Tempo, Liputan6 and Metro TV.
- Interesting background reading from Dave McRae in the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies and the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter blog.
- More background in The Interpreter on Megawati’s relative silence until now, and Jokowi as a candidate.
- International coverage of the nomination in the Financial Times, New York Times and Bloomberg — plus an overview of overseas coverage from Detik.com.
- The ANU’s New Mandala blog will be publishing regular updates about the election by @RossTapsell, @Gammonator, Jacqui Baker and Dominic Berger starting next week.