Protecting his legacy the underlying goal in Jokowi’s penultimate State of the Nation address: Analysts

RUNNING A MARATHON

In his speech, Jokowi said that the future leadership will set a path forward for Indonesia’s future. 

“This is not about who the president is. No, it’s not,” he added.

“The question is whether or not the future leaders are ready to work in line with what we have started today, or whether or not they are brave or consistent enough,” he said. 

Mr Widodo also said that running the country is like running a marathon which requires endurance. 

“We are not walking leisurely here, and we are not running a sprint either. We are running a marathon to reach a Golden Indonesia,” he added, referring to Indonesia’s centennial in 2045 where it is hoped the country would be a developed nation by that time.

Mr Perdana noted that Mr Widodo’s remarks showed that he wants to convey that whoever becomes the next president, there is already the foundation to develop Indonesia further, which he has cemented in the past 10 years.

Mr Perdana believes despite saying that he is not intervening in the presidential elections, Jokowi clearly has hopes. This shows he does want to have some say in the next presidential election, so his programmes will continue.

Mr Adi Prayitno, a politics lecturer with Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, said Jokowi believed the traits of the next president are vital as it will determine whether the person can carry on with his programmes, especially to reach the grand target of making Indonesia a developed country by its 2045 centennial.

Analysts cited how Jokowi had especially emphasised his infrastructure and downstreaming programmes where commodities are processed locally to give higher added value. 

“Whoever will be the next president will be someone who can gain an advantage of the situation to make Indonesia a developed country,” said Mr Prayitno.  

“That is why he talked about downstreaming, and infrastructure because that is a precondition, the foundation to make Indonesia developed, and Jokowi has built it.”

The downstreaming policy requires minerals to be processed in Indonesia to give higher added value before it is sold or exported.