Jokowi’s Mega problem

Sadly he’s an appallingly bad public speaker, hesitant, repetitive and uncomfortable with crowds.  Watching him perform on TV encourages toilet trips. Only in one-on-one chats with soft journos does he come across as affable, though not charismatic.

Apart from his determination to make the Republic a maritime power, Jokowi’s foreign policy is indifference, unnecessarily creating international ill-will through his obsession for putting traffickers before firing squads, simplistically arguing this will solve the drug problem.

The President’s best hope is to cut ties with Mega while he still has some credit in the bank of public goodwill. Unseating her would be impossible – there’ll be no spill motion from the ranks.

A smart politician would offer Mega a splendid title and a sinecure in New York or Paris, some city with elite shops and far away, but Jokowi isn’t that clever. 

The only chance is to follow his predecessor’s example; SBY created the Democratic Party (himself as chair, wife Ani as vice-chair and son Edhie as secretary general) to get the presidency.

Maybe Jokowi has left it too late. Supporters might fill the streets, but he won’t get airborne without the financial thrust of several media millionaires.

The biographies will eventually be remaindered – then pulped.  That could be the fate of their subject unless he rapidly learns how to seize the moment, disarm the disrupters and lead the world’s third largest democracy into a future of fairness it so badly needs.