"Pak Jokowi, since becoming mayor, then governor, and finally the president, has often met with people and been along with the people," Kristiyanto remarked while answering reporters` questions regarding negative comments regarding President Jokowi being on a commuter line train from Jakarta to Bogor on Wednesday (Mar 6).
Kristiyanto was in Meulaboh, Aceh, as part of a series of the X National Political Safari Activities in Aceh, being held from March 6 to 9, 2019.
"The negative accusations that have been targeted at Pak Jokowi show that these parties failed to understand his reputation as a populist," he pointed out.
Kristiyanto assessed that the allegation that Jokowi was portraying a certain image was made since the accuser was unable to emulate Jokowi`s method of communication.
The way in which Jokowi communicates with the people is not easy, as it requires a positive outlook.
"Those who rarely meet the people mean their attitude appears to be far from ready. Hence, they can only accuse him of trying to project a certain image, even though it is Pak Jokowi`s leadership," Kristiyanto, who is also PDI-P`s secretary general, noted.
To that end, the journey on the electric train to Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday afternoon, Mar 6, appeared routine until a thin man, wearing a white shirt, created a furor after entering the commuter line 8 car. The man was none other than President Jokowi, who had taken the train from Tanjung Barat Station and boarded a KRL without strict escort.
Deputy of Press, Protocol, and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Bey Machmudin confirmed that Jokowi was using the KRL while returning to Bogor. The photos showed that Jokowi appeared to be in one of the carriages along with other passengers. Jokowi stood up among the crowd of passengers and spoke while holding on to one of the hand grips.
However, the Prabowo-Sandi camp was quick to lambast Jokowi for attempting to present a certain image while engaging with the community at the KRL.
This is exactly the approach of Pak Jokowi, who is much close to the people and never to be more prioritized to have a seat.
Kristiyanto believes there are six virtues that make Jokowi popular in his governance of the nation as well as in his communication with the people at large.
Firstly, Pak Jokowi is known to take the plunge in terms of all aspects in a sense that if we look back at his track record, what made Pak Jokowi`s career skyrocket? He served as mayor of Surakarta then became governor of DKI Jakarta and finally won the 2014 presidential election.
Many people admire him for his listening and understanding abilities. He has never been a difficult person. Hence, it is not surprising that he is always keen to know about the needs of the community. Despite not knowing how to make the program, it is tailored to the needs of the community.
The second facet that makes Jokowi stand apart from the rest is his simple, people-loving, and blunt nature. As an example, he always looks for comfortable footwear. For Jokowi, comfort does not necessarily have to come at a high price. Moreover, the footwear most often worn by him are authentic from Cibaduyut and priced at Rp400 thousand.
However, it does not imply that Pak Jokowi cannot afford expensive branded goods. His wealth amounts to more than Rp27 billion. However, Jokowi chooses to wear economical clothing and footwear, so that he can blend in with the masses and there is no distinction between him and the people.
The third feature is Jokowi being more popular than Clinton, Trump, and Messi.
Jokowi`s wax statue being installed at the Madame Tussauds Museum in Hong Kong is testament to his global popularity. Moreover, a survey conducted by the manager of Madame Tussauds in Hong Kong indicated that Jokowi surpassed US Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and President-Elect of the United States Donald Trump in terms of popularity.
Fourthly, what make Jokowi popular is simply his contemporary style.
Youngsters across the world always dream of having a cool president and not always one who is formal and old-fashioned. Despite Jokowi exuding a normal demeanor, he can represent the youngsters of the current generation.
It cannot be denied that Jokowi is a smart president, who starts trends in the homeland`s fashion arena. His style has been emulated by all circles.
Fifthly, he is the head of state, who frequently uses video blog (vlog), so not-surprisingly he is called the Vlogger President.
After being elected President of the Republic of Indonesia, Jokowi has often employed modern approaches to interact with the community, one of them being through Facebook and vlogs that are uploaded regularly through YouTube.
Thanks to his initiative to make a vlog along with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, he is now known as the president of vlogger. Hence, Jokowi follows the trend of vlogs.
Sixthly, an undeniable fact about President Jokowi is his friendly approach to all people. Every president must be highly concerned about the state affairs and also while meeting people.
It cannot be separated from things that concern the lives of numerous people. President Jokowi turned out to not only respond to various questions posed by officials but also gave attention to everyone.
Known as a friendly person, Jokowi also helped answer trivial questions raised by residents in the #JokowiMenjawab program vlog, which was uploaded to his official page on Facebook, every weekend.
Hence, Kristiyanto opined that if several parties still could not see these facts about Jokowi, it means they have failed to understand him as the people`s leader.
Reporter: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
