Joko Widodo is considering extending his term in office

WHO CAN forget that moment, eight years ago, when a slight former furniture salesman with a winning grin rose to the presidency of Indonesia? Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, had a modest upbringing in the small city of Solo in Central Java. He had become that city’s mayor, from where his reputation for rolling up his sleeves and fixing problems had propelled him to the governorship of Jakarta, the country’s sprawling capital, and then to the presidential palace. A man of the people, he connected with voters in the markets and back alleys. For the first time, a ruler did not hail from the army or the country’s elites. And so, in the story of Indonesia’s democratisation, Jokowi’s election in 2014 marked a decisive break from the era of Suharto, the dictator whose regime had crumbled in 1998.