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Indonesia has renewed President Joko Widodo’s mandate with 55.5 per cent of votes in his favour in the April 17 election. The legal challenge mounted by his twice-vanquished rival Prabowo Subianto, claiming a larger share than his 44.5 per cent tally and alleging electoral impropriety, is not expected to carry. After the long and bitter election campaign, Mr Joko has emerged with his personal popularity intact and abundant political capital in the form of heftier support from allied and friendly parties in the newly elected Parliament. Every reason then that in his final term in office, he must aim higher and move faster to deliver on the faith reposed in him.

In Mr Joko’s first term, the economy expanded to a milestone of a trillion dollars. But it chalked an average annual growth of just over 5 per cent, never hitting the promised 7 per cent. In his second stint, Mr Joko will want to put in measures to ensure that the economy reaches its potential, estimated at US$10 trillion (S$13.8 trillion) over the next decade, to become the fourth-largest in the world, behind only China, India and the United States in purchasing power parity terms.

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