Indonesia 's voters to choose between military man or self-made furniture salesman . Joko Widodo has drawn comparisons to Obama for his image as an outsider seeking to reform . The smear campaigns have `` forced Jokowi on the defensive on issues of his personal identity , '' instead of being able to put up a progressive vision for the country , said Douglas Ramage , an analyst with Bower Group Asia , based in Jakarta . He is the first Indonesian president since independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945 who was born outside of Jakarta, and he grew up with a father who worked at a US embassy.
Indonesia 's voters to choose between military man or self-made furniture salesman . Joko Widodo has drawn comparisons to Obama for his image as an outsider seeking to reform . He is the first Indonesian president since independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945 who was born outside of Jakarta, and he grew up with a father who worked at a US embassy.