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Indonesia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Indonesia’s Jokowi touts legacy ahead of election, in swansong speech ‘justifying his presidency’

  • The president urged his successor to continue his economic reforms to help Indonesia become one of the world’s biggest economies by 2045
  • Widodo also appeared to take a jab at his critics for dismissing him as a kingmaker who plays a major role in selecting his own successor

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo, wearing traditional attire from Tanimbar Islands of Maluku province, delivers his State of the Nation Address on Wednesday. Photo: Pool via AP
Aisyah Llewellyn
Indonesian President Joko Widodo used his swansong speech in parliament to emphasise his legacy and urge continuity for his economic agenda to help the country become a developed nation in two decades, observers have said.
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Sporting traditional dress from the Tanimbar Islands in Maluku, Widodo on Wednesday covered a range of topics in his address on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, including the need for continued economic growth and the coming election on February 14.

“He was far more emotional this time and he was kind of setting up his legacy too, about who will continue his successful presidency,” said Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer in international relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Bandung. “It was more like a farewell speech and more of a swansong, basically justifying his presidency.”

Excavators in a pit at a nickel mine in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg
Excavators in a pit at a nickel mine in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg
Widodo said his “commodity downstreaming” policy was the foundation of Indonesia’s goal to become one of the world’s biggest economies by 2045, at which point the country’s income per capita would reach US$25,000.

Industrial downstreaming involves the processing of raw materials into products of higher value, rather than exporting them in their raw form.

Indonesia proclaimed its independence from Dutch colonial rule on August 17, 1945. To achieve its goal of “Golden Indonesia 2045” would require a major reform of its education and vocational institutions, Widodo said.

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Noting that the challenges ahead would be daunting, he added: “It takes courage and trust to make difficult, unpopular decisions.”

A woman takes pictures on a pedestrian bridge in Jakarta in July. Indonesia aims to become one of the world’s biggest economies by 2045. Photo: EPA-EFE
A woman takes pictures on a pedestrian bridge in Jakarta in July. Indonesia aims to become one of the world’s biggest economies by 2045. Photo: EPA-EFE
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