Indonesian politics is becoming a family affair

WHEN JOKO WIDODO was elected president of Indonesia in 2014, it marked a turning-point in the country’s politics. Jokowi, as he is better known, hails from a humble background—he grew up in a riverside shack—yet managed to vault himself into the nation’s highest office. It was the first time that somebody who did not belong to the political or military elite was in charge of the country. True to his image as an outsider, he vowed that budding politicians in his family would not ride on his coat-tails, writing in his autobiography, published in 2018, that “becoming a president does not mean channelling power to my children”.