Joko Widodo: From promising democrat to Indonesia’s kingmaker

In a country marred by dynastic politics and corruption, many Indonesians saw him as a revolutionary.

“In 2014, there was a slogan, ‘Jokowi is one of us’. He was not a typical Indonesian politician,” said political analyst Firman Noor from Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency.

“Everybody had high hopes for a better democracy.”

Mr Widodo’s administration had a somewhat shaky start, rushing into some policies only to backtrack on them later.

Over the years, he built a strong track record on economic growth and infrastructure development. His infrastructure push produced 16 new airports, 18 new ports, 36 dams and more than 2,000km (1,240 miles) of toll roads. Indonesia is expected to overtake Russia and the UK to become the world’s sixth largest economy by 2027, according to IMF forecasts.

Mr Widodo is credited with achieving all this while remaining close to the ground. One of his political trademarks, known in Indonesian as “blusukan”, involved impromptu visits to connect with the people and listen to their needs and grievances.