One of the most popular discussion threads on popular Indonesian online community Kaskus features the political campaign of Surakarta Mayor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running partner Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja for the governorship of Jakarta this year. The thread has accumulated over 61,500 Indonesian netizen comments spanning over 1019 pages and viewed more than 260，632 times. Just a few days ago, the second thread reached its maximum size of 10,000 comments and a “Part 3” discussion thread was created so netizens could continue commenting and discussing.
Despite Jokowi being considered a small city mayor and Ahok being fiercely attacked for being Chinese Christian, it didn’t stop their determination and success in winning the first round of Jakarta’s Governor Election on July 11 2012. With their catchy campaign slogan “New Jakarta”, many Jakarta voters sincerely believe this team will finally bring about drastic positive changes to Jakarta city. While they won the first round with 42.60% of the votes, they were followed by the Fauzi-Bowo (Jakarta’s current governor) team with 33% of the votes. These two teams will likely to face each other in the second and final round to be held on September 20, 2012 where the Governor of Jakarta for the next five-year term (2012-2017 period) will be elected.
Drastic changes in Surakarta after Jokowi became the Mayor
Jokowi has proved his ability and dedication while serving as mayor of Surakarta, also known as Solo City, which led him to receive many awards such as the Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award (2010) and Exemplary Mayor award from the Indonesian Ministry of Interior (2011). While for Ahok, being the first person of Chinese ancestry to run for the election hasn’t prevent him from getting massive support from voters. Some of his positive contributions while serving as East Belitung Regent include providing free education and health services for the people and creating a transparent budgeting system.
Many of Indonesia’s politicians, including Jokowi-Ahok, have been inspired by Obama’s victory in the 2008 US presidential elections through the heavy-use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and websites for their campaigns. This new “Web 2.0” campaign strategy uses online social media so voters can interact directly with the election candidates and get to know more about them. Undoubtedly, their social media promotions contributed significantly to their first round win this past July.
Mobile Advertising for the Jokowi-Ahok Election Campaign
Jokowi-Ahok’s Campaign Mission for Jakarta city:
- To actualize Jakarta as a modern and presentable city according to the Area Design Planning.
- To transform Jakarta into a city that is free from reoccurring problems such as traffic jams, floods, slums, garbage etc.
- To guarantee the availability of housing and public facilities that are decent and affordable for the local people.
- To build a culture of tolerance yet caring about the city among the local community.
- To establish an honest and transparent governance which focuses on serving the public.
A video of Ahok’s interview on the “Talk Indonesia” talk show:
Predatory:
They had so many accomplishments in the past, were it all for real?
edo.miyamoto:
JOKOWI should be a candidate for Indonesia’s presidency, not a candidate for Jakarta’s governorship!
rajanego:
I’ll vote for Jokowi Ahok… but they should promise me also that we can make easy money in Jakarta hahaha…
cahsedayu:
They should also show their failures and not only their accomplishments to be more objective here..
am4r:
Whoever elected to be the new Jakarta’s Governor should be able to make significant changes and not just make vague promises.
robinfummi:
Jokowi isn’t fit to be governor!! Jokowi should be the president instead!
ingov10:
I’m just looking forward to the holiday during election day HAHAHAHHAA….
Chaos:
Wow.. I think Jokowi & Ahok are very charismatic candidates!
It won’t be strange if Foke [Fauzi Bowo, current governor] loses.
kukkiwon:
So far, these are [Jokowi-Ahok] the only candidates whom I think are ready and suitable for DKI Jakarta!
skree:
I’ll vote for Jokowi-Ahok! I’ll vote just this time only because usually I’m a non-voter.
reyvan3:
Have any of those promises been fulfilled yet?
Joko.widodo:
Please ask the people of Solo city [nickname of Surakata city], boss, since they have already proven Jokowi’s promises!
abjo_gadul:
I’m listening to this news also! I think Jokowi feels deep inside his heart that if he can win the governor election then that’s great, otherwise is fine also (Still Surakarta city mayor anyway =)). I think Jokowi is gambling with his fate here since he hasn’t given up his position as the mayor of Surakarta city.
Joni.Joni:
Yes indeed, whenever Mas Jokowi is invited to public debate, he never comes, but maybe it’s because of his hectic schedule. =(
hsapoetra:
Hopefully, his good intention is supported also with smooth execution in real life… so he’s not just good at campaigning but also his promises can become realities later! Long live Jakarta!
Dallara:
Wow, all the things he said sound very promising, but sometimes they sound too good to be true!
satria120S:
The main problem for our capital city is ‘RATS’ [corruption]. This problem has to be eliminated thoroughly first. Therefore, we need to have a fearless leader to eradicate this corruption so they won’t become the ‘RATS’ leader instead.
talita.aziza:
May the best Governor candidate win!
fezans:
Hahahahahaa… only dumbasses will want to vote for Mr. Mustache [current governor]… I don’t want to vote for him cause Jakarta keeps having flooding problems!
myheroine9:
Of course he panicked since everyone knows how Foke’s [current governor] performed during his governorship… he’s really, really good… at lying!
SENSOR:
He [Foke] didn’t do well but he’s still campaigning for next election… Is he not embarrassed??
Do you think Jokowi-Ahok will win the Governor election and bring radical changes for the “New Jakarta”?
