Joko Widodo

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Joko Widodo
Mayor of Surakarta
Incumbent
Assumed office 2005
President	Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Governor	Bibit Waluyo
Preceded by	Slamet Suryanto
Personal details
Born	(1961-06-21) June 21, 1961 (age 51) Surakarta, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesia
Political party	Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle
Alma mater	Gadjah Mada University
Occupation	Businessman
Religion	Islam

Joko Widodo (born June 21, 1961), better known by his nickname Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician who has been Mayor of Surakarta since 2005. His vice mayor is F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo. He was nominated by his party, Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle, to run in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election;^[1] he was elected as Governor of Jakarta in a second round of voting.

[edit] Education

Born in Surakarta, Jokowi graduated with an engineering degree from the Faculty of Forestry at Gadjah Mada University in 1985.

[edit] Achievements

While running for the office of mayor of Surakarta, many doubted the ability of a man who worked as a property and furniture businessman. But after a year in office, he has successfully led many progressive breakthroughs which are widely praised nationally. He adopted the development framework of European cities (which he frequently traveled to as a businessman) to his own city of Surakarta.
Under his leadership, Surakarta experienced a rapid change. Branding the city, by approving the motto "Solo: The Spirit of Java". Few of the biggest achievements: he was able to relocate the junk dealer in the Garden of Banjarsari almost without any incidents which was critical to revitalize the functions of the open green land, emphasized the importance of giving back to the community for investors, performed routine and open direct communications (broadcast by a local television) with the community. Balekambang Park was abandoned by its organizer, he made it a public park. Jokowi also did not hesitate to dismiss investors who do not agree with the principles of his leadership. As a follow-up of the new branding of Surakarta, he also applied for Surakarta to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (which was approved in 2006) and subsequently Surakarta was chosen to host the organization's conference in October 2008. In 2007, Surakarta had also hosted the World Music Festival (Festival Musik Dunia/FMD) which was held at the Fort Vastenburg Complex (it is worth noting that Fort Vastenburg was to be bulldozed and replaced by business center and shopping malls before Jokowi vetoed the decision). FMD in 2008 was held in the Mangkunegaran Palace Complex.
Joko Widodo was chosen by the Tempo magazine as one of the "Top 10 Indonesian Mayors of 2008"

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