President of Indonesia

The President of the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Presiden Republik Indonesia) is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The President leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and is the commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.

On 20 October 2014, Joko Widodo became the 7th and current President of Indonesia.

History

Sukarno era

The Indonesian presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 Constitution by the Committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI). The office was first filled on 18 August 1945 when Sukarno was elected by acclamation by the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) because the body responsible for the presidential elections, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), had not yet been formed. On 16 October 1945, Vice-President Mohammad Hatta announced a vice-presidential decree which turned the Central National Committee of Indonesia (KNIP) equal status with that of the president. On 11 November 1945, the KNIP made the decision to separate the role of Head of State with that of Head of Government. Although a new constitution had not been set up yet, Indonesia was now a de facto parliamentary democracy with the president as a ceremonial Head of State whose function was to ask the prime minister as the Head of the Government to form a new Cabinet.

Indonesia

Coordinates: 5°S 120°E / 5°S 120°E / -5; 120

Indonesia (ⁱ/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə; Indonesian: [ɪndonesia]), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rɛpublik ɪndonesia]), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is the largest island country in the world by the number of islands, with more than fourteen thousand islands. Indonesia has an estimated population of over 255 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. The world's most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country's population.

Indonesia's republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status. Its capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the Malaysian Borneo. Other neighbouring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP.

Joko Widodo

Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (Javanese: ꦗꦑ꧈ꦮꦶꦢꦢGêdrìk: Jåkå Widådå; O-Javanese: Jaka Widada; born 21 June 1961) is the President of Indonesia, in office since 2014. Previously he was Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012 and Governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014. He is the first Indonesian president not to have emerged from the country’s political elite or as an army general.

Jokowi was nominated by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), to run in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (often known as Ahok) as his running mate. Jokowi was elected as Governor of Jakarta on 20 September 2012 after a second round runoff election in which he defeated the incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo. Jokowi's win was widely seen as reflecting popular voter support for "new" or "clean" leaders rather than the "old" style of politics in Indonesia.

His nomination as PDI-P candidate for the 2014 presidential election was announced on 14 March 2014. The presidential election was held on 9 July 2014. After some controversy about the result of the election, Jokowi was named as president-elect on 22 July. He was formally declared as the winner of the election by the General Elections Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum or KPU), winning more than 53% of the vote over his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who disputed the outcome and withdrew from the race before the count was completed.

President

A president is the leader of a country or a division or part of a country, typically a republic, a democracy, or a dictatorship. The title "president" is sometimes used by extension for leaders of other groups, including corporate entities.

Etymologically, a president is one who presides (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term praeses). Originally, the term referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e., chairman), but today it most commonly refers to an executive official. Among other things, "President" today is a common title for the heads of state of most republics, whether presidential republics, semi-presidential republics or parliamentary republics.

Title

The title President is derived from the Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit." As such, it originally designated the officer who presides over or "sits before" a gathering and ensures that debate is conducted according to the rules of order (see also chairman and speaker). Early examples are from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (from 1464) and the founding President of the Royal Society William Brouncker in 1660. This usage survives today in the title of such offices as "President of the Board of Trade" and "Lord President of the Council" in the United Kingdom, as well as "President of the Senate" (one of the roles constitutionally assigned to the Vice-President of the United States). The officiating priest at certain Anglican religious services, too, is sometimes called the "President" in this sense. However the most common modern usage is as the title of a head of state in a republic.