Joko Widodo Biography

Joko Widodo is the current President of Indonesia serving in this position since October 2014. There was some controversy involved during the presidential election in mid-2014 though eventually he was declared the winner of the election by the General Elections Commission. Thus he assumed office as the 7th President of Indonesia after having held several other positions in the Indonesian administration. Born into a poor family in the city of Surakarta, Widodo faced his share of struggles as a member of the underprivileged section of the society. Because of the family’s dire financial situations he had to start working as a young boy to support his family and to pay for his own education. Hard working and intelligent, he studied hard and graduated with a degree in forestry engineering from the prestigious Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Eventually he entered politics and was elected to the position of governor of Jakarta. He proved to be very popular among both the urban and rural sections of the society, and rose through the ranks, eventually getting elected as the President. He commands great respect from the citizens since he is perceived as a clean and principled politician who understands the problems of the common people.