JAKARTA, Indonesia — The mood was tense in this capital city on July 6, 2014, the last day of the presidential campaign. Indonesian progressives, in particular, were frantic. For months their preferred candidate, humble, slum-born Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, had been leading in the polls. But with campaigning winding down, polls showed Prabowo Subianto, his right-wing mega-rich opponent, pulling even.
Prabowo was the son-in-law of Indonesia’s last dictator, Suharto, and was linked to numerous human rights abuses during his time as special-forces commander. He was fond of riding into stadiums full of supporters on a chestnut stallion and declaring that the country needed to eliminate direct elections and elevate the role of police and military in society. This all sounded fine to Indonesia’s powerful media-owning oligarchs, who rallied to Prabowo’s conservative candidacy.
Enter Abdee Slank, the long-haired guitarist of Slank, Indonesia’s biggest rock band. The musician feared Prabowo was about to become president and knew other prominent artists had similar concerns. There was Ian Antono, the legendary guitarist, who had donated his guitars to the Jokowi campaign. Glenn Fredly, the R&B sensation from far-Eastern Ambon, who was inspired by Jokowi’s pledge to develop neglected parts of the country. Mohammed Marzuki, a rap artist from central Java who released a powerful rap video in support of Jokowi.
Led by Abdee, Indonesia’s biggest stars staged a concert with an estimated 100,000 people in Jakarta’s biggest stadium to mark the end of the campaign. The concert was so successful that all of the major television stations, even the ones whose owners supported Prabowo, covered it. “It was really crazy, I’ve never performed in front of that large of a crowd,” says Pandji Pragiwaksono, a rapper and stand-up comedian.
Two years later, Indonesia’s artistic community still looks at Jokowi with favor, albeit no longer through rose-colored glasses. Artists acknowledge Jokowi has made his share of mistakes, but he remains the best option for a country beset with widespread poverty, corruption within its government and business circles and a very recent authoritarian past.
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“I still support Jokowi,” says Mohammed Marzuki, the rap artist who had released a popular video in support of the president, adding that whatever his flaws, Jokowi was not returning his country to the old dictatorship.
Supporting Jokowi has been a long journey for the artists of Indonesia, an archipelago nation in Southeast Asia that is a staunch U.S. ally. The country held its first direct presidential election in 2004. The memories of the not-too distant past were one the minds of the artists who gathered in 2014 to support Jokowi.
According to Fredly, when the nearly 200 artists met for rehearsal they had a joke. “If all of us gathered together like this during the Suharto years, we’d be immediately disappeared.” It was a joke, but it wasn’t funny, because they feared that if Suharto’s son-in-law would became president, Indonesia’s hard-won democratic freedoms would disappear.
Slank headlined with their pro-Jokowi anthem before the candidate took the stage.
“I think the concert really ignited the hope in politics, the idea is that we finally have someone on the inside to root for,” says Pragiwaksono.
Jokowi cruised to a decisive seven percentage-point victory. Artists and celebrities who participated in the concert are reluctant to claim credit, but there is little question among academics that their massive and unprecedented concert for Jokowi played a role in swinging the election his way.
Fredly, the R&B singer, says he was proud of the result. “The Indonesian people are so much more advanced than before. They want open leadership.”
Jokowi’s strengths as a figurehead have been his weaknesses as a politician. His humble origins and outsider status meant he had little power in the capital when he took office. The new president was bullied by senior party leaders and influential members of his coalition.
A few months into his presidency, Jokowi folded under pressure from party leaders to nominate a police chief, Budi Gunawan, widely viewed as corrupt. Struggling to pass legislation with a recalcitrant legislature, Jokowi’s signature policies became the execution of foreign drug-traffickers and the destruction of foreign fishing vessels that illegally entered Indonesia’s water. It was not shaping up to be the progressive presidency that artists had rallied behind on the last day of the campaign.
Jokowi’s second year has been better. He’s learned to wield power more effectively in Jakarta, has spoken out against rising intolerance by extremist Muslim groups towards Indonesian minorities, and has initiated a raft of reforms to Indonesia’s economy. Jokowi is personally clean and according to polls remains relatively popular.
Today, celebrities are critical of decisions Jokowi has made, but none regret their decision to support the candidate.
“He’s still making mistakes, and I think he’s still going to make more mistakes, but I think he’s learning so there is still hope,” says Pragiwaksono, the musician and comedian.
Abdee Slank, the musician who planned the concert and remains a close friend of Jokowi, is frustrated the president did not do more to defend the anti-corruption commission when angry police officers began arresting its members. “Whoever is against the anti-corruption commission will face the people.” Slank scheduled a concert earlier this year outside of the Commission’s office to protest legislation designed to defang the Commission, which Jokowi has vacillated over.
Abdee insists that Jokowi is a force for good in Indonesian politics. “If we think that all problems will disappear with Jokowi, that’s very silly.”
But the artists also say they may change their minds about Jokowi. Marzuki says he has written a song that translates roughly to, “Pulling the President by his ear” — in other words, to discipline him like a child and yank him in another direction. Marzuki says he doubts he’ll ever have to release the song.
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Indonesia’s Rock Stars Still Support a President from the Slums originally appeared on usnews.com
